SERS

SERS or Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering is what I should be thinking about. But I'm not. I'm studying in my biology lab classroom in my favorite spot...right in front of our 500 gallon aquarium. And it's night-time in the tank (meaning the lights are off). Because of this my favorite nocturnal creatures in the tank are very active right now....and very distracting. Let me give you all a quick lesson on Brittle Stars :)


Brittle stars are Echinoderms. They're related to starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea lilies. They are in the class Ophiuroidea and are divided into two groups:

Basket Stars

Brittle Stars

Basket stars have dichotomously branched arms - which means at each node there are two continuations. Their arms can keep branching until they're very fine, at which point the basket star uses them almost like a net to catch things drifting by in the water. They like to live deep in the ocean, near strong currents. I'm currently watching the basket star in our tank feed - COOLEST ANIMAL EVER.


Brittle stars have a central body disk containing their organs and then their arms with muscles to help them move. Brittle stars are called brittle stars because their arms break off easily, probably an escape mechanism. They are predators, eating smaller brittle stars and sometimes fish as well as scavengers. They have spines and plates covering their arms which protect them and give them traction as they move about. I am currently looking at the body disk of the biggest brittle star in our tank. In the four years I have taught this class, I have never seen his body disk. ever. So this is a pretty big deal.




All in all, I <3 Echinoderms. Their physiology is fascinating. They're cool to look at and fun to play with. And now that I have shared some brittle star knowledge, I will go back to figuring out what the hell SERS really is. Wish me luck.


L