Common basket star

Gorgonocephalus eucnemis

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth23–805 m
Water temperature-2–27 °C
Best monthsApril, June, and July
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Gorgonocephalus eucnemis is a species of basket star in the class Ophiuroidea. It is found in circumpolar marine environments in the Northern Hemisphere. The scientific name for the genus comes from the Greek, gorgós meaning "dreadful" and cephalus meaning "head", and refers to the similarity between these basket stars and the Gorgon's head from Greek mythology with its writhing serpents for hair. The specific name eucnemis is from the Greek "good" and "boot".

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 26 records
February: 30 records
March: 29 records
April: 128 records
May: 97 records
June: 124 records
July: 140 records
August: 124 records
September: 93 records
October: 95 records
November: 23 records
December: 20 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 23–805 m · Deepest record: 8,200 m

0–10 m: 6 records
10–20 m: 42 records
20–30 m: 164 records
30–40 m: 37 records
40–50 m: 23 records
50–60 m: 26 records
60–70 m: 25 records
70–80 m: 32 records
80–90 m: 31 records
90–100 m: 36 records
100–110 m: 55 records
110+ m: 588 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -2–27 °C

-2–0 °C: 31 records
0–2 °C: 32 records
2–4 °C: 16 records
4–6 °C: 40 records
6–8 °C: 18 records
8–10 °C: 162 records
10–12 °C: 329 records
12–14 °C: 31 records
14–16 °C: 7 records
16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 3 records
26–28 °C: 6 records

Photos

(c) Георгий Виноградов (Georgy Vinogradov), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Common basket star

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: オキノテヅルモヅル
Korean: 진삼천발이

Other scientific names: Astrophyton caryi, Astrophyton eucnemis, Astrophyton malmgreni, Astrophyton stimpsoni, Gorgonocephalus caryi, Gorgonocephalus japonicus, Gorgonocephalus malmgreni, Gorgonocephalus stimpsoni

Similar species

Chilean Basket Star
Gorgonocephalus chilensis
Gorgonocephalus dolichodactylus
Gorgonocephalus pustulatum
Gorgonocephalus sundanus
Naked Basket Star
Astroboa nuda
Astrothorax waitei

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).
1,508 open-data records from 1882 to 2024.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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