Echinodermata · echinoderms

Common starfish

Asterias rubens

Asteriidae · forcipulate sea starsIUCN: Not evaluated
Common starfish
Photo: Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

The most common sea star of the northeast Atlantic, also found in the Northwest Atlantic.

Fun factIt can regrow lost arms.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Northeast Atlantic
Depth zone
Intertidal shore, Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
Diet
Mussels & clams
Size
Up to 30 cm

Classification

Echinodermata › Asteroidea › Asteriidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Echinodermata echinoderms
    • Adults usually have five-part radial symmetry
    • Water-vascular system powers tiny tube feet
    • Skeleton of limestone plates (ossicles) in the skin
  5. Class Asteroidea sea stars
    • Sea stars: usually five or more arms joined broadly to a central disc
    • Tube feet on the underside of each arm
    • Many push their stomach out to digest prey
  6. Family Asteriidae forcipulate sea stars
    • Forcipulate sea stars with tiny pincers (pedicellariae) on the skin
    • Major predators of mussels and oysters
  7. Genus Asterias
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  8. Species Asterias rubens Common starfish

Closest relatives in the guide