It is found around the coasts of western Europe and is known in Britain as the common brittle star.

It ranges southwards from the Lofoten Islands and Iceland to the Mediterranean Sea and the Azores, and along the west coast of Africa south to the Cape of Good Hope.

[8] It is most common on tide-swept rock and on coarse sediments,[9] preferring hard substrates including sand and shingle.

[8] The common brittle star sometimes congregates offshore in vast numbers and as many as two thousand individuals have been recorded in a single square metre.

It is also a suspension feeder, raising an arm and extending the tube feet in order to catch particles floating by.

[15] However its glassy spicules may make it unpalatable, it lives in concealed places and is well camouflaged so that it blends in with its surroundings which combine to reduce predation.

The smallest brittle stars found have just two segments per arm and a disc diameter of two millimetres.