Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Drift into the deep with these living fossils. Feather stars and sea lilies are part of an ancient group of echinoderms known as crinoids. They are distant relatives of the sea stars and sea urchins that you might find in coastal tide pools. Feather stars cling to sponges, corals, and rocks with claw-like cirri, while stalked sea lilies anchor to the seafloor with a holdfast.
For a hungry crinoid, the currents deliver dinner. Both feather stars and sea lilies have a crown of finely plumed arms. Those arms and their jointed branches are covered in tiny tube feet that help scuttle food into the central mouth.
MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles have captured the slow, mesmerizing movements of sea lilies swaying in the currents and feather stars paddling to fresh feeding grounds. We’ve spotted a wide variety of different crinoids, but identifying individual species from video alone is often difficult. These observations are a reminder of the diversity of amazing animals thriving deep underwater. The deep sea is closer than you think. The choices we make in our everyday lives can safeguard the future for deep-sea animals and ecosystems.
Video credits:
Producer/editor: Megan Bassett
Production team: Larissa Lemon, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: 432Hz Yin Yoga by DMMProductions (Pond5)
Animals in order of appearance:
Note: The red dots in some of these clips are lasers used to help us estimate the size of animals and seafloor features. The lasers are 29 centimeters (11.4 inches) apart.
0:00 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 738 meters (2,421 feet)
0:28 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 2,421 meters (7,942 feet)
0:50 Feather star (Tonrometra sp.) | 2,668 meters (8,753 feet)
0:57 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
1:05 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,493 meters (4,898 feet)
1:26 Feather star (Florometra serratissima) | 1,539 meters (5,049 feet)
1:46 Sea lily and feather star (family Hyocrinidae and superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
2:06 Feather star (Tonrometra sp.) | 1,986 meters (6,516 feet)
2:13 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
2:28 Sea lily and feather star (family Hyocrinidae and superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
3:03 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 2,316 meters (7,598 feet)
3:15 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 738 meters (2,421 feet)
3:52 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,539 meters (5,049 feet)
3:56 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,810 meters (5,938 feet)
4:07 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
4:17 Feather star (Florometra serratissima) | 206 meters (676 feet)
4:42 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 909 meters (2,982 feet)
Drift into the deep with these living fossils. Feather stars and sea lilies are part of an ancient group of echinoderms known as crinoids. They are distant relatives of the sea stars and sea urchins that you might find in coastal tide pools. Feather stars cling to sponges, corals, and rocks with claw-like cirri, while stalked sea lilies anchor to the seafloor with a holdfast.
For a hungry crinoid, the currents deliver dinner. Both feather stars and sea lilies have a crown of finely plumed arms. Those arms and their jointed branches are covered in tiny tube feet that help scuttle food into the central mouth.
MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles have captured the slow, mesmerizing movements of sea lilies swaying in the currents and feather stars paddling to fresh feeding grounds. We’ve spotted a wide variety of different crinoids, but identifying individual species from video alone is often difficult. These observations are a reminder of the diversity of amazing animals thriving deep underwater. The deep sea is closer than you think. The choices we make in our everyday lives can safeguard the future for deep-sea animals and ecosystems.
Video credits:
Producer/editor: Megan Bassett
Production team: Larissa Lemon, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: 432Hz Yin Yoga by DMMProductions (Pond5)
Animals in order of appearance:
Note: The red dots in some of these clips are lasers used to help us estimate the size of animals and seafloor features. The lasers are 29 centimeters (11.4 inches) apart.
0:00 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 738 meters (2,421 feet)
0:28 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 2,421 meters (7,942 feet)
0:50 Feather star (Tonrometra sp.) | 2,668 meters (8,753 feet)
0:57 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
1:05 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,493 meters (4,898 feet)
1:26 Feather star (Florometra serratissima) | 1,539 meters (5,049 feet)
1:46 Sea lily and feather star (family Hyocrinidae and superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
2:06 Feather star (Tonrometra sp.) | 1,986 meters (6,516 feet)
2:13 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
2:28 Sea lily and feather star (family Hyocrinidae and superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
3:03 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 2,316 meters (7,598 feet)
3:15 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 738 meters (2,421 feet)
3:52 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 1,539 meters (5,049 feet)
3:56 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,810 meters (5,938 feet)
4:07 Sea lily (family Hyocrinidae) | 1,767 meters (5,797 feet)
4:17 Feather star (Florometra serratissima) | 206 meters (676 feet)
4:42 Feather star (superfamily Antedonoidea) | 909 meters (2,982 feet)
