Brittle-star ‘city’ discovered on underwater mountain
Scientists have captured the first images of a novel brittle-star "city" that has colonized the peak of a submerged mountain. The colony was discovered on the Macquarie Ridge, an underwater mountain range south of New Zealand.
It is mostly made up of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea), which are related to starfish. Tens of millions of the creatures were found living crammed together.