The variable bushy feather star often keeps its body concealed in a crevice and the only visible part is its array of arms, especially when it is young.

There are in fact five rays attached to the upper part of the body but these subdivide into a number of arms and when one of these is lost, two grow in its place.

On the underside of the body are about twenty clawlike appendages known as cirri which are used to cling on to the underlying surface, but they are lost in older specimens, which attach directly using the underarms.

Plankton or other organic particles that drift past are caught by tube feet on the pinnules and passed to the mouth down ciliated grooves.

[4][5] The variable bushy feather star is sometimes sold for display in reef aquaria, however it is not easy to meet its food requirements and most aquarium specimens sooner or later die of starvation.