pentapod

Updated: May 13, 2025

When the animal opens, the arms at first separate without bending outside, so that the whole looks like an inverted pentapod; but gradually the tips of the arms bend outward as the arms diverge more and more, and when fully expanded the crown has the appearance of a lily of the L. martagon type, in which each petal is curved upon itself, the pinnules of the arms spreading laterally more and more, as the crown is more fully open.

Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz - Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence