The Upsetting Reality of Brittle Stars

Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: go.nebula.tv/t...
Or grab a Nebula gift card (or two) for you friends and family! gift.nebula.tv...
Watch TierZoo's Let's Play Outside - Mantidfly: nebula.tv/vide...
Or you can support me on Patreon, too! / theoctopuslady
BlueSky: bsky.app/profi...
Second channel: ‪@TheOcTWOpusLady‬
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/theo...
Music/Audio Credits:
Music provided by Storyblocks
Photo/Video Credits: docs.google.co...
Vampire Squid Illustrations by Bryan G. Mann
Twitter: / bryan_g_mann
IG: / bryangregorymann
bryangregoryma...
• Swimming Brittle Star:...
NOAA - Dive 08: Sea Cucumber Serenity: oceanexplorer....
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images
Other imagery/video supplied by Shutterstock
Sources:
Blake, D. B., Guensburg, T. E., & Lefebvre, B. (2016, July). New Early Paleozoic Asterozoa (Echinodermata) from the Armorican Massif, France, and the Western United States. In Annales de Paléontologie (Vol. 102, No. 3, pp. 161-181). Elsevier Masson.
Geraldi, N. R., Bertolini, C., Emmerson, M. C., Roberts, D., Sigwart, J. D., & Connor, N. E. (2017). Aggregations of brittle stars can perform similar ecological roles as mussel reefs. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 563, 157-167.
Girard, F., Fu, B., & Fisher, C. R. (2016). Mutualistic symbiosis with ophiuroids limited the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea octocorals. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 549, 89-98.
Jangoux, M., & Lawrence, J. M. (1982). Echinoderm nutrition. CRC Press.
Jones, A., & Mallefet, J. (2010). Aposematic use of bioluminescence in Ophiopsila aranea (Ophiuroidea, Echinodermata). Luminescence, 25(2), 155-156.
Jones, A., & Mallefet, J. (2013). Why do brittle stars emit light? Behavioural and evolutionary approaches of bioluminescence. Cahiers de biologie marine, 54(4), 729-734.
Kano, T., Sato, E., Ono, T., Aonuma, H., Matsuzaka, Y., & Ishiguro, A. (2017). A brittle star-like robot capable of immediately adapting to unexpected physical damage. Royal Society open science, 4(12), 171200.
Le Roux, P. J., Branch, G. M., & Joska, M. A. P. (1990). On the distribution, diet and possible impact of the invasive European shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.) along the South African coast. South African Journal of Marine Science, 9(1), 85-93.
Mosher, C. V., & Watling, L. (2009). Partners for life: a brittle star and its octocoral host. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 397, 81-88.
Stöhr, S., O'Hara, T. D., & Thuy, B. (2012). Global diversity of brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea). Plos one, 7(3), e31940.
Stöhr, S.; O’Hara, T.; Thuy, B. (Eds) (2024). World Ophiuroidea Database. Accessed at www.marinespec... on 2024-11-20. doi:10.14284/358
Warner, G. F. (1971). On the ecology of a dense bed of the brittle-star Ophiothrix fragilis. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 51(2), 267-282.

[@PrairieKass]

this looks like if those horrifying anatomy diagrams of the human nervous system was its own organism

[@PrairieKass]

just finished watching, these are now my favorite goofy little fuckers you've covered

[@OctopusLady]

@@PrairieKass lmao, your attitude towards them changing from horror and disgust to affection and amusement brings me great joy

[@gumarkuk]

human or animal in general are neuron that in symbiotic relationship with other cell 😂

[@axehead45]

I mean, that is pretty much what the human nervous system looks like

[@figureit3587]

@@OctopusLady the bee was scuba diving

[@badger273]

Me: did you eat my bees? My brittle star, with a suspiciously bees-shaped lump in its throat: no

[@faenene]

Brittle star: We outta bees

[@nyeti7759]

Was that a Black Books reference?!

[@Littleham117]

likely story...

[@Mossenstein]

more likely than you think....

[@nyoooooo]

Nagyon furcsa a Föld ahol élünk...

[@Capn_Obed_Marsh]

My guess is that there's a current undocumented species of bees that have undergone an adaptation similar to Water Boatsmen or the Diving Bell Spider that swim the same waters as that particular Brittle Star. Bubblebees.

[@skeletonwarlock5741]

Gods damit are you a father or are you basically sans

[@giantidiot31]

5 stars!

[@indigopines]

​@@giantidiot315 SEA stars!

[@LostLargeCats]

I love this bee name. Thank you.

[@michelles1250]

UNDERRATED

[@An_Area_of_Grey]

It was me, I fed them the bees

[@charlestrulear6873]

I thought it was Tiny Kong

[@WaffleKing7125]

I can't beelieve you've done this.

[@zodiackitten6110]

Can confirm. I was the bees.

[@julesn.designer]

I'm a professional graphic designer and I agree that the fossil timeline should descend into absolute chaos before you get it redesigned, but only because I'm the type of freak who would actually enjoy doing that work. Disentangling the fossil timeline is my new dream job lol

[@sino_diogenes]

Nothing stopping you for doing it for free :P

[@magnoliaopal]

I think we have a candidate 😁

[@ZeeAzman]

Dude yes.. embrace the chaos! 😂

[@amberblyledge7859]

I volunteer you as tribute.

[@travcollier]

Also, make it into merch.

[@05Matz]

Bees navigate by optical flow -- literally watching the ground scroll underneath them. Mirrored surfaces or running water/conveyor belts/etc. confuse them, and they will apparently fly right into calm water trying to constantly drop altitude until ground features show up. The brittle star may have found an environment that, on a particular day, formed a natural seaside bee trap and gorged itself on the bees that drowned in it.

[@wilsonov87]

I'm pretty sure that's how I navigate too

[@MCPhssthpok]

That brittlestar obviously discovered a previously unknown species of aquatic bee and just wanted to bring the scientists some samples.

[@marialuciasilva2362]

Were ?

[@kingcrafteroderderfahradtu7331]

@@marialuciasilva2362 13:33

[@kestrel9994]

Ah, yes. The giant sea wasp.

[@kingcrafteroderderfahradtu7331]

@@marialuciasilva2362 at about 13:33

[@marialuciasilva2362]

@kingcrafteroderderfahradtu7331 thx

[@mtgworbelg5913]

If you remember a few years back bees were ruled to legally be fish. So finding them in the ocean is only to be expected.

[@Laser_Puppies]

Billionaire bees wanted to try to find the beetanic, went as expected

[@youlltim]

beelionaires :3

[@CoronaMage]

Sweet bees are made of bees, who am I to diss a bee?

[@heccinparagon6633]

​@@CoronaMageI'm glad I'm not the only person to think this exact sentence on a regular basis

[@crisper1614]

This is the only proper response.

[@firefighter4443]

Based

[@deusexaethera]

Kind of ironic that they're named "brittle stars" when they're clearly the most flexible of star-like organisms.

[@Cillana]

Their arms break off really easily. It was really annoying when trying to sort them out of biofouling samples.

[@dex_8D]

having bees in your stomach is often used as a metaphor, like the opposite of having butterflies in your stomach. so those brittle stars were probably really nervous about a presentation they had to give :(

[@lellow19]

Clearly someone was escaping a swarm of bees and didn't realize that just going in water wouldn't get rid of them. The brittle star saw this person's panic and jumped into action to save them by eating the bees

[@alephkasai9384]

A heroic brittle star? He may as well be a superstar

[@Avarstia_Owain]

The Bees were on a boat in the ocean, and tried to do a mutiny until the sailors took out their hive and as it sank, the brittle star came believing it will be helping by monching on some bees

[@natorsi]

I love the notion of a floating ocean hive

[@SpencerBaderman]

new coral just dropped guys! lets help it out by munching on these weird crunchy sky bugs

[@jessicacook9003]

​ @natorsi I love the notion that the sailors were human even more lol. Recognizing a bee mutiny, having a serious sit-down discussion over it, then dramatically giving a speech about the mutiny and throwing the bees overboard one by one (tied in fishing line to prevent them swimming away of course).

[@Briefheyuguys]

CLEARLY the brittle star walked out of the water using its incredible mobility compared to its relatives and waltzed its way over to the nearest hive, ate a couple bees, and casually went back to the ocean

[@tylerp.5004]

I choose to believe this is not only possible but also is what did happen.

[@koomber777]

Once you have maximised fossil time line chaos you TURN IT INTO A POSTER OR TSHIRT.

[@himynameismax7516]

I would honestly buy that

[@Powershelley]

I wholeheartedly second wanting to buy that.

[@idiotfriend6755]

Thirding on buying that

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

If it becomes a shirt, the front has to be the chaos and the back has to be the graphic designer redesign of it.

[@devonmmi]

agreed ^

[@Rafyfou]

Brittlestars have a symbiotic relationship with bears. They hold on some salmons and flash their bioluminescent arms to get the bear's attention. In return the bear will drop them a freshly harvested honey bee hive

[@firefighter4443]

Nice!

[@owinjoyce7702]

Is this true?

[@hanhas842]

yes. ​@@owinjoyce7702

[@IAmOneAnt]

Source?

[@Bach_Treebane]

Waterbears?

[@bw4708]

I brought my little cousin to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and she spent like 30 minutes just watching these little fellas moving around. I’ve never been prouder

[@travcollier]

@@bw4708 Love that place. The coolest part (pun intended) is that many of the exhibits are supplied with water from the bay which is upwelling from quite deep. So they get all sorts of cool random stuff growing in the tanks along with the cool things they intentionally put in there.

[@sharonminsuk]

Hi Octopus Lady! Former echinoderm biologist here, and first time I've stumbled on your channel. This was very, *_very_* silly - but wonderful! You've got a new fan. Looking forward to your other echinoderm videos, and then the rest of your work.

[@dead1097]

Just a piece of detritus here: Bee's of course, like all creatures, take baths, group baths are typical for the bees, and sometimes they enjoy a bit of extra exfoliation to get the really deep set old pollen off 'em. So this group of bees was heading down to their favorite beach spot, to get their selfcare day going. Once they got there, the place was crowded, muscles and sand fleas just everywhere. At first the bees were like "awe man, we can't do our beauty routine because if we accidently bring a sand flea home with us like last time Queen Mom will be buzzing mad!", and as we all know Bees love their mom so they almost turn around, but mom is also gonna be mad if they come home STINKY. So they start flying around a bit, trying to by some time, and from a small tide pool they see some arms waving them down. It's the brittle star. This Brittle star is super helpful, says "yeah you can use this pool, I'll even watch your backs" and so the bees get to their beach bath and everything is awesome, until this crab guy shows up, he's a notorious asshole, and he's trying to chat up the bees, and well they are NOT interested, but instead of letting them handle it, the brittle star steps in and tries to pull the bees away from the crab, which causes the crab and the brittle star to start yelling at each other, just as the brittle star opens it's opening to say something, a wave smacks into the group, and the bees fly right into the brittle stars orifice. RIP BEES. The brittle star cried for like 2 days, also ate the crab and lost an arm. Rough day for 'em. I know this, because I was the detritus the crab was eating.

[@sandgbroschvany1818]

This is a work of art.

[@katelillo1932]

👏

[@1224chrisng]

what is it like inside a crab's stomach inside a brittlestar's stomach? is it cozy?

[@markkarasik2211]

Yeah, I’ll bet that’s exactly what happened

[@bucketsturds]

a brittle star wrote this

[@claude3429]

Bees are experts in drowning themselves I tried so hard to save bees from the beach and they'd literally dry off and get right back to throwing themselves into the waves 🥲 The majestic wave of the brittle stars tho, truly a star✨

[@WeAreASecret]

I 100% agree with the plan to keep the fossil timeline going as is until it becomes a completely incomprehensible mess

[@SuperDestroyerFox]

Hopefully we won’t get to the point we need more pages

[@jacobteasdale6372]

I hope we get to the point where its at the level of a Tzeentch plot

[@adreabrooks11]

You mentioned that the graphics you use for your videos are "not perfect" - but, honestly, I find that's a big part of their charm! I'm a digital character designer myself - and I found it far more amusing when the static image of the brittlestar just trucked off and left a checkerboard transparency behind than if it has been a "proper" animation. Same with the glowy brittlestar bopping around and telling the fish to back off. Delightful! ^_^ Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and I'm thankful to those who continue to fund you! PS: Thanks also for keeping the "hot mess" timeline. The entertainment value keeps increasing with the chaos! 😁

[@Tugatitatoxica69]

20:15 Some Brittle Stars don't like living in Brittle Stars cities, so they move out to land and live in land corals (trees) where they eat bees and ants, that Brittle Star was back in the city for holidays to visit it's family

[@jessicacook9003]

💯

[@ZylerLee17]

Only issue with this is the Arboreal Brittlestar is mortal enimies with the Giant Pacific Tree Octopus. That is where sightings of Sasquatch comes from, the two duking it out in the woods.

[@bernardoisaac497]

1) not disappointed at all by the appearence of other brittle starts, they look like a headless stickman 2) Dragging themselves through the sea floor is kinda weird, them swimming is SO FUNNY 3) WHAT THEY GLOW????? 4) The brittle stars ate some millionaire bees that were in a submarine

[@seanrowshandel1680]

This colossal work is an arborescent tower of excellence, which one must routinely pay respects to. Did you see the time lapse? I thought it was cool

[@klbriceno1]

those bees were playing "plunge the stinger" and didn't see the blood thirsty brittle star hunting each time they dipped their little butts in the ocean.

[@DatOne.Gallia]

Well I think it's pretty obvious how the bee got eaten. The brittle star was playing the piano with all the arms and the bee liked jazz, maybe a little too much aaaaand the brittle star got little hungry mid recital.

[@CrochetWhimsy413]

2:18 I want to crochet the typical brittle star.

[@jadenpeterson4881]

And then you could crochet one of those Eldritch horrors!

[@marithedurian]

That would take so long​@@jadenpeterson4881

[@kat-cg6dy]

it’s been 6 days have u done it or started it yet😭

[@kat-cg6dy]

i’m BEGGING u to if not

[@theresacatinmyhat6430]

Please do

[@StaticSable]

I'm pretty sure that brittle star got really ambitious with its method of movement, learned how to spin fast enough to generate lift, and grabbed some bees as it flew around like a living shuriken.

[@matthewking3831]

The video of the brittle stars swimming is the beginning of a run-up (swim-up?), by the time they reach the surface the brittle stars are moving fast enough to launch themselves metres into the air. They do this to hunt their prefered prey: bees

[@Lea-js9jw]

He broke the physics motor accumulating enough momentum to get into orbit and then in his way down to earth he manage to catch a bee as a snack

[@snickersmyknickers5120]

I love it when theres videos this long talking just about one animal instead of a short 5 minute analysis. Because Hell yeah do I want to want a 22 minute video about a skinny starfish.

[@Alfredo·Da·Miedo]

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie" that's a Moray!❤😂

[@The_TinesJathian]

when the jaws open wide and there’s more jaws inside, that’s a moray

[@fenorlex1126]

Hehe, you said a funny.

[@samuelmade5776]

When it bites on your thigh and you bleed out and die that's a moray

[@quentinking4351]

I love the fossil timeline. Also, fun fact: You can mail bees through the US Postal Service. Queens are commonly shipped this way with a few workers and some honey. It is a necessary courtesy to write "Warning: Contains Live Bees" but not a requirement. So obviously some brittle star decided to rob a mail truck and found a tasty snack.

[@aurora8567]

Brilliant video as always! I study marine bio and I really liked how you explain symbiosis, because it was a useful explanation for anyone who doesn’t know, and wasn’t overbearing for people who already know about it. Also, the tier zoo shoutout is so funny because I saw his video on jellyfish pop up and it reminded me to watch this one.

[@lellow19]

I have a commensal symbiotic relationship with my cat when she uses me as a bed. Though it does become damaging when I really have to pee...

[@werelemur1138]

It becomes mutualism in winter.

[@lellow19]

@werelemur1138 very true lol

[@ATLAS_JET132]

I like how feather stars are like nature’s underwater helicopter

[@partlycloudy7707]

More of a biblically accurate starfish

[@dropdeaddrawing]

watching the other little sea fellas walking threw a field of polite brittle stars is really a top 10 moment of 2024

[@pfluorescentzebra7117]

Obviously, the brightly colored brittle stars swapped places with a flower, like a foreign exchange program. Since we know this star enjoyed its foreign food, we can only wonder how the venus fly trap felt having to eat ocean detritus. Yum?

[@lucasmendoza7576]

That swimming brittle star at 5:29 is absolutely delightful! It was doing a full-on breast-stroke and it looked like the 5th arm was acting like a stabilizing tail.

[@RRonco]

Lil' known fact: Bees and brittle stars happen to be symbiotic. In much the same was as Ladybugs farm and milk aphids, brittle stars keep apiaries of bees.

[@aureafaix]

That brittle star was probably trying to make its way to land like the elusive and highly endangered tree octopus. But it ate a bee and decided it wasn't worth it and went back to the sea.

[@noxmore]

16:20 Very nice lighting on the crab, neat little editing touch

[@frop_8750]

James Beemeron was making a research for his next movie "Abees". He and his entire crew got eaten by a monster yet unknown to hivemind. That's a tragedy Honeywood will never recover from.

[@blueboltshrimp]

secretly actually full of bees in a suit

[@DjurrenArt]

Jerry, I told you not to touch the fractal fabricator. Okay great, now Satan's wicker basket is on the loose.

[@Deehan_Oof]

The bees were migrating to Australia from the north pole (as they do) and collectively barrel rolled into the ocean

[@gabrieloceano]

13:24 I really hope they're better hunters than that hat implies

[@wickedcrayon6022]

😂

[@Roblecop]

I've always been fascinated by these creatures! Amazing video. The ocean is truly filled with wild and wonderful creatures.

[@wills.2257]

Humans and bees share a method of altitude control called ventral optic flow which just means they like to watch where they fly. Over calm water, they can't tell how high they are actually flying and crash into the water which usually gets their wings wet. They can use their wings as a hydrofoil but it hard on them and most bees only have about 10 minutes to make it to shore before they drown.

[@4rs0n1st]

20:15 the brittle star realized the bees equal intelligence and tried to replicate its form manually using chemicals and nutrients from the surrounding water

[@AllCloudsAreBunnies]

7:18 “meanwhile the sea cucumber has a fish up its butt” - true facts

[@Asher-mw3zo]

11:29 So polite. Even when such a big sea star walks by, they give way no matter how inconvenient. 😊

[@TrueJoeMama]

5:52 Biblical Accurate Star Fish

[@Flooffy_number1]

17:21 rename this to “looks like they could kill you, is actually a cinnamon bun” club

[@SpencerBaderman]

okay. my theory about the bees in the brittle star is that there was cliff edge that a hive was hanging off of. In the water below the brittle stars started flashing for their OWN rave. the hive seeing the lights below, started raving SO hard and waggle dancing too close to the sun, ultimately falling into the open ocean below. Suddenly a taste new snack appeared and being the opportunistic predators they are, the brittle stars indulged. :)

[@GretchZ]

Well, I have a book from the 1950s that concludes that flying saucers are piloted by super-intelligent bees. So… something something alien ocean?

[@shosplecolupis8794]

for the ending question: some brittle stars eat dead things, right? scavengers? maybe they found some unlucky debters to the bee mafia. the beefia. no, wait, that's the cow mafia, huh? the buzzfia? buzzia?

[@cramerfloro5936]

I for one am quite glad that these at first look horrifying creatures are actually just kinda chill roommates

[@mechmeister2568]

Brittlestar may have taken the "most-alien-like-animal" crown from the octopus

[@Gront517]

The brittle star splashed water onto a beehive and kills a bee

[@foozlebagel7488]

the bees interrupted their sea anemone worship. Got eaten for it. Deserved it two.

[@NewMessage]

Oh, that reminds me.. the ramen must be ready!

[@starmaker75]

Ramen starfish is a good nickname for brittle stars

[@slaanynionysus7420]

This is the first video of yours I have ever seen. And I'm at 8:13 and i'm absolutely loving it. The fact you've detailed the symbiotic relationship types as well as! Gaaaaaaah! Thanks for the viddeo!

[@emii5599]

The fossil timeline is like so mood chaotic, but you could do a mess one AND have prettier more easy to read version! As a fan (and grapfic desing student)I could try remaking it for fun even id it would be ok!

[@212thBeehiveMan]

Dug up a brittle star on the shore as a kid. Damn thing grabbed my wrist (it had a surprisingly firm grip for something so small and thin. It didn't hurt but definitely startled me), snapped two of its arms off, and I watched them literally swim away like a snake. I put it back and found more later that weren't so feisty. They're so cool to watch

[@JohnLynch-b7e]

4:40 Thats still pretty scary. Imagine like , fifty of those coming at you ..if you were somehow pinned to the bottom of the Ocean, like temporarily, somehow. They're still pretty scary.

[@theswagening6439]

You're so right. Letting the chart devolve IS what's most funny.

[@CricketXIV]

Finally a video I can link whenever I see those terrible videos claiming brittle stars are alien monsters

[@Sketchtan]

I just want to say that I absolutely love your editing sense of humor. It gives so much personality to the entire learning experience

[@donovanb9020]

16:30 "Burglar Alarm Hypothesis" aka the COD perk "Martyrdom" but irl. 🤣

[@musicguy20]

My guess is that a shipment container had a bee colony on it and the unfortunate bees didn’t make the entire trip.

[@autumnanxiety]

Brittle stars are basically Patrick Star if Tim Burton created SpongeBob SquarePants.

[@AccountName9390]

i think beez were hanging by the water talking about how much they don't like watching alien ocean, but got rightfully punished by a not-so-brittle star

[@gorrack10281987]

14:26 The verisimilitude of that corals' arboresence is sublime. 👌

[@wonderterror1541]

"Oh that's not as scary" ma'am they look and move like a decapitated octopus. They should be scary to _you_

[@person3105]

OMG BABE! Wake up the best marine biology channel posted!!

[@aircraftcarrierwo-class]

Deepwater Horizon might be a good opportunity to collab with Brick Immortar; he could cover the details of the disaster itself as he often does, while you cover the ecological impacts in more detail than he's typically equipped to.

[@brickmastere5535]

YOOO best science channel posted!

[@scottgardener]

A ridiculously ambitious group of influencer bees (who described themselves as “Aees”) undertook the quest to find the ultimate flowers. They flew thousands of miles before finding a perfect group of wild tiger lilies. Then, when they returned to the hive to report their findings, the interpretive dance routine to explain how to find these flowers caused them to throw themselves about in a mosh pit. This caused some of them to knock themselves unconscious and fall into a stream outside their hive. It was raining heavily, so they were washed out into the ocean. Following this, the nerds these bees had previously bullied back at the honeycomb when they were larvae started their own channel and declared that the now lost pollen-seekers were not Aees or bees, now, but seas.

[@whiteender8055]

The bee's tale, from another bee's Perspective: One day, we went out to gather nectar like usual. I teamed up with Beenson and we went to the nearby shore. We've been gathering the nectar for a couple hours, when Beenson saw a flower floating on the calm waves of the sea. He said to me, "Look Buzzington! Have you ever seen a flower like that?" We flew closer to the strange flower. It had spikes and long petals never seen anything like that before. I felt strange, like someone was watching us. We landed on the flower, then suddenly the petals of the flower rose up from the see. The petals were as long as dandelions, and they moved quickly I barely managed to escape, but it caught Beenson. And as quickly as it moved, it vanished! I haven't went to the shore since... This is the same tale improved by ChatGPT because I thought my version was lame: One day, we set out for nectar duty-a perfectly mundane mission, or so I thought. I partnered with Beenson, the hive’s self-proclaimed ‘botanical explorer’ (which really just means he’s nosy). We ventured toward the shore, a place rumored to have flowers with nectar sweeter than the Queen’s royal honeycomb. For hours, we worked diligently, filling our saddlebags and buzzing about, when Beenson suddenly froze mid-air. “Buzzington!” he exclaimed, his wings jittering with excitement. “Have you ever seen a flower like that?” I turned to look, and there it was: a bizarre bloom drifting lazily on the sea’s surface. Its petals were jagged and glistening, almost metallic, and they extended outward like the legs of a monstrous spider. It radiated an aura of something... un-floral. But Beenson, being Beenson, was already flying toward it. “Hold on,” I called out. “This doesn’t feel right.” “Nonsense,” he buzzed back. “It’s probably some exotic coastal species! Think of the nectar yield!” Against my better judgment, I followed him. As we got closer, I felt an inexplicable chill, as if the air itself had eyes. The sea’s calm waves lapped at the flower, which now looked less like a flower and more like some ancient, alien thing masquerading as one. My antennas twitched nervously, but Beenson was undeterred. He landed squarely on its center, his proboscis already probing for nectar. Then it happened. The “petals” shot upward with terrifying speed, encasing Beenson in a writhing prison of spines and tendrils. The whole structure rose out of the water, revealing a massive, bulbous stalk that had been submerged. It wasn’t a flower. It wasn’t anything from this world. It was alive. And hungry. “Buzzington, help!” Beenson’s cry was muffled as the creature pulled him closer to what I can only describe as a gaping, pulsating maw. I acted on instinct, diving and darting, trying to free him, but the tendrils lashed out with unnatural precision. One narrowly missed me, slicing through the air with a sound like ripping silk. Realizing I couldn’t save him, I did the only thing I could: I fled. My wings blurred as I shot back toward the hive, the creature’s guttural roars chasing me over the waves. When I finally reached safety, I collapsed, my tiny heart pounding in my thorax. I told the others what had happened, but no one believed me. They said I must have been delirious from overwork, that Beenson had likely gotten caught in a gust and swept out to sea. But I know what I saw. I haven’t returned to the shore since. Sometimes, on still nights, I think I hear Beenson’s buzz carried on the wind, calling for help. Or maybe it’s the creature, luring me back with his voice. Either way, I’ll never go near that cursed place again.

[@jessicacook9003]

ChatGPT never ceases to amaze me. It got some details off, like the brittle star roaring (although maybe to a tiny bee it does make some sort of noise?) but other than that your fun story was elevated to an epic tale. Kudos for mentioning it was generated instead of just posting it as your own. 😋

[@anchorbubba]

chat gpt was made too super dimensionally dunk on people

[@Cruznick06]

So excited to see these covered! Basket Stars always made me think of coral. Happy to hear they're likely suspension feeders too. Thanks for putting so much effort into educational content. ❤

[@megamushroom]

19:03 you mean huma- oh...

[@burningpapersun1]

Feather stars are biblically accurate starfish.

[@wizardofdreams7711]

Can't wait for Crinoids!

[@zero69kage]

For some reason I vibe really strongly with brittle stars. Sometimes I want to just unravel and become a mass of tentacles on the floor.

[@unknowable4147]

20:00 oh you know maybe it just went to a restaurant. Brittle Star nests are prime real estate you know, why WOULDN'T they have restaurants???

[@Kurtizss]

“Be Afraid!” - brittle stars to a crab

[@Amelthon]

"how did the brittlestar eat the bee" doordashed it

[@VictoriaEMeredith]

Most realistic answer. 😁

[@stug77]

I like the irony of choosing an animal renowned for its poor eyesight to react to a visual burglar alarm.

[@JenABlue-ed1bw]

Captain's Log, Brittle Stardate 1131.4: Our journey across the strange realm known as "land" has resulted in our discovery of a "tree", home to indigenous, hostile life forms known as "bees." While they swarmed our vessel and forced us to retreat back to the ocean for repairs, we did manage to bring a few back with us for study. Sadly, they could not survive in our environment and soon perished. The only question now is how best to deliver them to scientists...

[@YochevedDesigns]

I love basket stars. They remind me of gently moving fractals, like watching math come alive.

[@Okamika44]

Small correction at 13:49 I had an Ophiarachna incrassata (green brittle star) catch my Amphiprion ocellaris (false percula clownfish) wrapped its arm around then use another arm to pull a frozen cube of food out of her mouth she was eating then it release her. I have had other aquarists claim their brittle stars catching live healthy fish and eating them. However, this is uncommon behavior.

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

Lol that sounds hilarious. How on earth did a brittle star even know the food was in there much less how to get to the food in a fish's mouth. Just out of nowhere, "food, give me" that clownfish must've been so confused.

[@Okamika44]

@@Rose_Butterfly98 IDK because they only have light sensitive cells, no eyes, and sure it could smell the clownfish and the food but idk how a creature so simple could put 2+2 together. the clown was so pissed! lol

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

​@@Okamika44 I wonder if they have scent receptors or something. It would just register that there's food inside something that's moving so it must grab it to pull the food out lol.

[@vickypedia1308]

I have this weird fear of plant roots. I think it's actually a more general fear of long spindly things since house spiders also freak me out, but the point is brittle stars look like they were designed specifically to torment me. They're really cool but I do not want to be near them. Luckily for me they live at the bottom of the ocean!

[@anselmenator]

Obviously, there's a benthic species of burrowing bees that exclusively feeds on the nectar of the floating salt-water lotus.

[@rehanpoonawalla7406]

literally so random but i just love how you mix comedy and education so well. Every video is so entertaining and they always scratch this itch in my brain that i cant explain. Love your videos smm

[@fluffysharkdatazz9460]

The brittle stars screamed many screams. Mimicking every scream from bear, to lion cub, to human, but then it mimicked a queen bee and accidentally stuck to the bees that dove in hearing the scream

[@dylanward2001]

"how did a brittle star get bees in it's stomach?" the sea stars were on hard times, to make ends meet they got employed by ninjas as throwing stars. one went up against a beekeeping supervillain and got lunch in the meantime.

[@auricolour7862]

Brittle stars are my favourite animals. My favourite fun fact about them is that they have eyes. Not the single larger eye-structures (adapted tube feet) at the end of each tentacle like the Asteroids do (yes, they also have eyes, there's some good papers on visual navigation in the Crown-of-Thorns starfish specifically which uses sight to navigate sand flats between coral reefs), but dozens and dozens of tiny calcite lenses with light-sensing cells underneath embedded all over their upper surface which can act as a single large compound eye. The same also applies to sea urchins!

[@artistdudebro]

Bee fell in love with the many arms of the brittle star. Brittle star loved the bee's stripes. Forbidden love gone wrong