Echinodermata · echinoderms
Sunflower sea star
Pycnopodia helianthoides
Pycnopodiidae · sunflower starsIUCN: Critically Endangered
A fast, many-armed sea star of Pacific kelp forests.
Fun factWasting disease killed billions of them starting in 2013, which led to urchin barrens.
- Waters
- North Pacific, Eastern Pacific
- Depth zone
- Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
- Diet
- Urchins, snails & clams
- Size
- Up to 1 m across
Classification
Echinodermata › Asteroidea › Pycnopodiidae
- 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
- 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
- Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
- In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
- Includes echinoderms and chordates
- 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
- 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
- Family Pycnopodiidae sunflower stars
- Sunflower stars with up to 24 arms
- Among the fastest-moving sea stars
- Genus Pycnopodia
- Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
- Species Pycnopodia helianthoides Sunflower sea star
Closest relatives in the guide
- Blood star Henricia sanguinolenta same class
- Common starfish Asterias rubens same class
- Crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci same class
- Forbes sea star Asterias forbesi same class