Specimens of <I>Xyloplax</I> (IMAGE)

Ohio Supercomputer Center

Specimens of <I>Xyloplax</I>

Caption

A team of scientists has determined that small disk-shaped animals called Xyloplax are actually starfish that have lost the large star-shaped, adult body from their life cycle. Specimens shown in this image measure between 2 and 5 millimeters (less than .25 inch) in diameter, and were collected in 2010 from the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 2,202 meters (7,267 feet).

Credit

Ben Grupe/Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

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