Moving and grooving like a writhing hand, dancing and twitching at the bottom of the sea, the brittle star has 5 arms that break off when attacked by a crab. This is great, since the brittle star can actually grow its broken arm back and stay alive on the food chain. The food chain of the intertidal consists of thousands of animals, including animals from the echinoderm group or the spiny-skinned. The loss of one of these can affect everyone.

-Kathy Jetnil

Looking like a submerged, multi-colored pin cushion, it wanders the intertidal, searching for algae on the slimy rocks in the splash zone. The banded urchin keeps the algae population under control from overgrowth, filling the whole habitat. However, if otters or other predator populations dwindle then the urchins will demolish all the kelp and algae, leaving no food for other marine herbivores.

-Joshua Tran

Like a food processor on high, the tireless maw of the brittle star devours everything in reach. The brittle star can eat almost anything it finds, including detritus like dead animals and rotting plants. It keeps the intertidal zone free from organic trash that would otherwise poison and kill everything that lives there.

-Paul Anderson

As if running away from terrorists, the tiny brittle star tries to avoid its predators. The brittle star is easy prey to creatures in the intertidal like fish. The brittle star is easy prey, as its predators move faster and are bigger. The tiny brittle star is a big part in the food chain, as it eats algae and detritus, and yet is food for other creatures that are higher in the food chain—like how the older sibling easily grabs the toys from the younger child.

-Patricia Lee