GENERAL HISTOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Brittle stars use their arms for locomotion. Brittle stars move fairly rapidly by wriggling their arms which are highly flexible and enable the animals to make either snake-like or rowing movements. However, they tend to attach themselves to the sea floor or to sponges or cnidarians, such as coral.

Detailed explanation-2: -Overview. Ophiuroidea are commonly known as brittle stars based on the fragile nature of their snake-like arms.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ophiuroids exhibit the three distinctive characteristics of the phylum Echinodermata: a body plan with five part symmetry (pentaradial), an internal calcium carbonate skeleton in the mineral form of calcite, and a water vascular system of fluid-filled vessels that end in tube feet.

Detailed explanation-4: -Ophiuroidea. Brittle stars make up the class Ophiuroidea. There are 2000 species of brittle stars, and they are closely related and very similar to the sea stars of the class Asteroidea.