- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Echinodermata
- Subphylum: Crinozoa
- Class: Crinoidea
- Order: Comatulida
- Family: Antedonidae
- Scientific name: Antedon petasus
- Norwegian: fjærstjerne
Characteristics:
This feather star may be confused with the smaller Antedon bifida, but the arms are more orderly organized. The most obvious difference is the number of feet (cirri). A. petasus has between 50 and 100 tiny, red banded feet while A. bifida has less than 30. The color is often beige with red or brown patches. The length of the ten arms may exceed 10 cm.
Habitat:
It is usually found on hard substrate on sheltered or medium exposed locations. It prefers depths from 20 to several hundred meters.
Distribution:
There are registrations from the northern parts of the North Sea, including the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Shetland, Scandinavia and the British Isles. It is most frequent in the northern parts of this region, replacing A. bifida in the north.