As this picture shows, brittle stars have long, flexible arms which extend outward from a central body disk. Like sea stars, the mouth of brittle stars is located on the underside of the animal, at the center of the body disk. The species of brittle stars which typically occur in the IRL are suspension feeders that use tiny tube feet on their slender arms to catch food particles that settle out of the water. These tube feet then pass the food to the mouth of the organism. Like sea stars, brittle stars are capable of quickly regenerating arms lost to predators.
Sea cucumbers get their common name from their resemblance to cucumbers.
Although they appear quite different than brittle stars, there are several common features shared by both groups of organisms. The possession of spiny skin and tube feet are two shared features. Sea cucumbers, however, use their tube feet mainly for locomotion, whereas brittle stars use theirs mostly for feeding. Another difference is that, whereas the common brittlestars are suspension feeders, sea cucumbers are deposit feeders, scooping up mouthfulls of sediment and digesting the organic material from it as the sediments pass through their gut.