Two unknown critters from night dive

Hi!

we found these two on a night dive in the Maldives last week and would appreciate any hints.

Number 1 - moved like a big spider when not directly in sharp light. The radius was about ten centimeters. This was at ten meters. There are two extensions in the middle looking suspiciously like the eyes on a crab.

Number 2 - also moved in a strange way. Quite agile. It has five arms. The centre corpus was about 2.5 cm / one inch in diameter. Depth was just about two meters.

Thanks!

Second one looks like a Basket Starfish that has been nibbled on.

First one looks cool but no idea.

The first shot looks like it is probably a Carrier Crab holding an anemone on it's back.

First might be a decorator crab covered with polyps or a carrier crab as liquid suggested. The second is a brittle star (rather than a basket star); looks like it's full of eggs.

First might be a decorator crab covered with polyps or a carrier crab as liquid suggested. The second is a brittle star (rather than a basket star); looks like it's full of eggs.

Oops my bad you're obviously right .. not sure why I typed that ... love watching these guys feed when the corals are spawning.

Do they all have 5 arms ? And are mine the same critter just different looking i take it?

Do they all have 5 arms ? And are mine the same critter just different looking i take it?

I think so. Another brittle star, different family/genus/species. Yours is Caribbean? Then it might be the ruby brittle star, Ophioderma rubicundum.

Thank you very much for the answers! It seems like it is different brittle stars though - at least to my non-expert eye. The first has was looks like roman numbers on it's arms and the second rings. Also the star "tattoo" is different.

The discussion of the second has prompted me into a new resolution for the future: for strange objects take photos from different angles. :-)

I suspect a photo from the side along the bottom would have helped here.