sea lily definition of sea lily in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

sea lily, stalked echinoderm of the class Crinoidea. Sea lilies are ancient, having reached their peak in the Middle Mississippian period; about 5,000 fossil species are known. About 80 modern species remain. Marine animals, like all echinoderms, they are largely restricted to fairly deep water, from about 35 to 1,000 fathoms (60–300 m). Small organisms and particles are trapped in mucus in the water-vascular (ambulacral) grooves located on the feathery, branching arms and are conveyed to the mouth. Unlike the free-swimming feather stars feather star, common name of a class of echinoderms that, as juveniles, are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk with rootlike branches; the mouth side faces upward. In the adult stage they break away from the stalk and move about freely.
..... Click the link for more information. to which they are related, sea lilies remain permanently attached to the ocean bottom. Two genera, Rhizocrinus and Cenocrinus, occur at moderate depths in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Sea lilies are classified in the phylum Echinodermata Echinodermata (əkī'nōdûr`mətə) [Gr.
..... Click the link for more information. , class Crinoidea.

sea lily [′sē ‚lil·ē]

(invertebrate zoology)

The common name for those crinoids in which the body is flower-shaped and is carried at the tip of an anchored stem.