Stranglestars

Stranglestars (genus sufficatiostella) are a large genus descended from Little Brittle Stars. They are found throughout the reefs of the Atlantic and West Coast of the Americas. One subgenus is found in the brackish saltree forests of the Amazon delta and another subgenus is found in the Southern stormraft fleet. Most stranglestars are a beige color in order to blend in with rocks, sand, and driftwood.

In the abscence of predators, the Brittlestar population grew out of control. The Brittlestars began to fill the role of a predator. Brittlestars began to catch small fish, other invertebrates, and each other. As they evolved from Little Brittlestars to Stranglestars, the starfish got bigger and more fearsome. The predatory, more motile starfish eventually dominated the seas until smaller fish grew larger and took their place.

Stranglestars have six, 5 inch long spindly arms. They can flatten their arms out to aid them in swimming. One leg is used as a rudder and the other 5 are for propulsion. As per usual with starfish, whenever a leg is lost it will grow back. 

When feeding, Stranglestars extend their arms out from the sand. If any prey comes by, the stranglestars will grab it and squeeze it. It's arms will crush the respiratory systems and the stranglestar will wait until its prey drowns. It will bring its prey to its mouthparts and then go into hiding until the hunger returns.

Stranglestars reproduce both sexually and asexually. When reproducing asexually, the stranglestar clones come from the parent splitting itself in two. The halves of the starfish grow new legs and become an exact copy of their parents. When reproducing sexually, the hermaphroditic stranglestars release their gametes into the water. The larvae float around near the surface as plankton until they settle on the seafloor.