''Astropecten spinulosus'' is a

sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

of the family

Astropectinidae The Astropectinidae are a family of sea stars in the order Paxillosida. Usually, these starfish live on the seabed and immerse themselves in soft sediment such as sand and mud. They are not to be confused with species in the genus '' Archaster' ...

Habitat and behaviour

Starfishes of the genus ''Astropecten'' live on mobile seabed (sandy, muddy or gravel seabed) and they remain largely buried under sediment during the day. During the late afternoon and the night starfishes go out to hunt mainly bivalve molluscs, which are their favourite prey. This species lives only in the Mediterranean Sea and it prefers sandy seabed near meadows ''

Posidonia oceanica ''Posidonia oceanica'', commonly known as Neptune grass or Mediterranean tapeweed, is a seagrass species that is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. It forms large underwater meadows that are an important part of the ecosystem. The fruit is free ...

'' or ''

Cymodocea nodosa ''Cymodocea nodosa'' is a species of seagrass in the family Cymodoceaceae and is sometimes known as little Neptune grass.

'' or other mobile seabed in areas very rich in algae from 1 to 50 m deep. This species is active and easy to find during the night, sometimes it is possible to find it in the late afternoon.

Description

It has very short superomarginal plates (the height of the vertical face is slightly larger than the width of plate), completely covered by scales and very small spines. Only from 1 to 3 small spines on the top of plate can be considered a real spines (the other spines are too small). The colour of these spines is the same of the superomarginal plates and it is brown or clear brown. The inferomarginal spines are long and pointed and they have the feature colour blue-purple. It looks like a slender starfish and sometimes it has rounded ends of the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

. The aboral side has always dark colour: brown, reddish-brown, rarely greenish. It is the only ''Astropecten'' that often moves away from mobile seabed and it is possible to meet them on hard bottoms, in cave or climbing on ''Posidonia oceanica''. It is a small starfish, usually 6–8 cm and maximum just under 10 cm in diameter. This sea star can be distinguished from very short superomarginal plates, the colour of aboral side, the colour of inferomarginal spines and size. This species can sometimes be confused with ''

Astropecten platyacanthus ''Astropecten platyacanthus'' is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. Habitat and behaviour Starfishes of genus ''Astropecten'' live on mobile seabed (sandy, muddy or gravel seabed) and they remain largely buried under sediment during the d ...

''.

Feeding

This sea star is a

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

and feeds on

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s, which it catches with its arms and then takes to the mouth. The prey is then trapped by the long, moving prickles around the mouth cavity.

References

Roberto Pillon (2009). Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea
* Koehler, Réné. 1921. ''Faune de France. Echinodermes''. * Tortonese, Enrico. 1965. ''Fauna d'Italia. Echinodermata''. * Ludwig, Hubert. 1897. ''Die Seesterne des Mittelmeeres. Zoologischen station zu Neapel''.

External links

Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea

Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Orientarsi in un mare di stelle

DORIS

WoRMS

SeaLifeBase

Naturamediterraneo
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2333725 spinulosus Echinoderms described in 1837