"SEA BALLERINAS" "BRITTLE STARS AND FEATHER STARS" "Starfish flex their supple arms in all directions to turn." "These arms have numerous stalks ending in suckers, which allow the starfish to move around by sliding in a continuous motion." "Here, where the arms seem to be connected by webbing." "The process is the same," "Brittle stars, however move using their arms alone, without the aid of suckers." "Underneath the disc is a single opening, which serves to take in food and eliminate waste matter." "Brittle stars ingest debris, but they can also be carnivorous." "Underneath, we can see the movement of the stalks on the arms, ln brittle stars, these stalks are not for locomotion but for pushing food toward the mouth or, in the other direction for evacuating waste." "On the disc on each side of the arms we can make out vents for breathing." "It is also through these vents that the animal expels reproductive particles into the water, where fertilization will take place." "In some species, individuals are simultaneously male and female." "In others, Iike this little 3 mm-long brittle star, the eggs will develop inside the parent." "The young will leave through the breathing vents as tiny brittle stars." "Their exit takes a few seconds." "Usually one or two young leave over a short period, but there can be up to nine over a period of a few days." "The last to be born are the least well-developed." "Occasionally the crown will jump up, freeing all of the young inside at once." "Among some brittle stars, the back of the crown shows patterns and colors reminiscent of certaÌn oriental rugs." "The brittle star's gestures resemble ballet movements," "firmly attached to algae." "Feather stars often cluster in bushlike forms." "The feather star turns over elegantly, Iike an umbrella." "The arms are made up of numerous branches on which we can see many tiny stalks for breathing and for gathering microscopic food particles." "They look like strange incantations in motion." "Each arm has harpoon-like forms, while the branches end in claws so there are various means of gripping." "The reproductive components develop inside the arm branches." "Here we see a female's eggs inside the branches." "After a few weeks the branches have grown enormous." "Once fertilized the eggs develop in a few days." "Photographic film allows us to see in just seconds the final result of the phenomenon, speeded up 1,400 times." "From each egg emerges a larva 0.1 millimeter in length." "The larva then takes on a crooklike shape." "It attaches itself by one extremity to a support such as algae." "In a few days - one minute on-screen - it will develop a stalk and take on a tulip shape." "The stalk has now reached half a millimeter in length and will continue to grow." "lncipient arms begin to emerge and will move further and further apart." "In a neighboring group, living deep in the ocean, the animal remains fixed by its stalk for its whole life." "Among giant forms now extinct for millions of years, this stalk was more than 65 feet long." "Here, in this small species, once the animal's collar of hooks is in place, it will break loose from the top of the stalk." "Despite its still-spindly arms and scarcely developed branches, it will begin to live an independent life." "The feather star tends to live among algae, but it can also walk around on the ends of its arms," "Here is the famous conductor Galathea directing "The Dance of the feather Star.""