Basket Star

Basket stars reproduce by broadcast spawning from June to November. The tiny young find their way to red soft coral, where they will live inside the polyps at a radial disc size of 0.04 inches across. It is not known how they get inside the polyp but it is possible that the larva is ingested by the coral. They might be feeding on the soft coral’s eggs, which are brooded inside the parent coral. They will eventually move to the surface of the coral for variable time. They leave the soft coral but move to an adult basket star when their central disk is about 2 inches in diameter. On adult basket stars, the juvenile takes food that the adult captured until their own arms are more developed.

This large basket star can reach a central disc diameter of 5.5 inches and ,with all arms extended, can reach a total diameter of 4 feet. They may live up to 35 years.