When I think about starfish, I imagine pretty little things. They even come in nice decorative colors:
[Image](From Flickr user nugunslinger)

Not much fodder there for lovers of the ugly, you'd think. But as we've seen previously with the slime star, not all starfish are so disappointing. And I was pleased to discover that the situation is even better for their relatives the brittle stars. Check out these guys: spiny, mushy-looking, bumpy, stringy and not quite symmetrical, they've really got it all:
[Image]
[Image]

What's even more encouraging is that these species were only discovered a few years ago.

Imagine that: not only haven't we blogged about all the ugly in nature, there's probably still more out there that hasn't even been discovered yet! If that's not a thought to get you through till the weekend, I don't know what is.

Cheering you on,
-Wombat