Brittle stars are the more flexible cousins of sea stars. While sea stars move slowly across the seafloor on tiny feet, brittle stars whip their long arms around to swim, climb corals, and catch food drifting in the currents. When threatened, they can completely detach their arms to escape predators. Their arms are the "brains" of the operation. The arms are home to bundles of nerves that allow the brittle star to coordinate complex movements, without a central processing center. Brittle stars h