Naked Basket Star

Astroboa nuda

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth6–392 m
Water temperature25–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, November, and December
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Alexander Vasenin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Astroboa nuda, known as the naked basket star, giant basket star, or cream basket star, is a Gorgonocephalid basket star, a type of echinoderm. Its lengthy arms are highly branched. It inhabits reef slopes exposed to current throughout the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea to New Caledonia. During the day, it coils into a tight ball inside a nook in the reef. At night, it spreads its arms to form a basket to feed on plankton.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Astroboa nuda”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 2 records
February: 6 records
March: 3 records
April: 7 records
May: 6 records
June: 2 records
July: 5 records
August: 11 records
September: 7 records
October: 6 records
November: 8 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–392 m · Deepest record: 550 m

0–10 m: 8 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C

24–26 °C: 17 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 16 records

Photos

(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Naked Basket Star

Names in 2 more languages

German: Nacktes Gorgonenhaupt
French: Gorgonocéphale nu

Other scientific names: Astroboa nigra, Astrophyton elegans, Astrophyton nudum, Astroraphis nudum

Similar species

Pacific Basket Star
Astroboa granulatus
Astroboa nigrofurcata
Gray Basket Star
Astrocladus coniferus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
133 open-data records from 1908 to 2017.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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