''Echinaster sepositus'', the Mediterranean red sea star, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

starfish 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 ...

from the East Atlantic, including the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Description

''Echinaster sepositus'' has five relatively slender arms around a small central disc. It usually has a diameter of up to , but can exceptionally reach up to .European Marine Life:
Echinaster sepositus
'' Retrieved 12 December 2015. It is a bright orange-red in colour, and has a soapy surface texture unlike superficially similar ''

Henricia ''Henricia'' is a large genus of slender-armed sea stars belonging to the family Echinasteridae. It contains about fifty species. The sea stars from this genus are ciliary suspension-feeders, filtering phytoplankton. Species According to the Wo ...

'' starfish (another somewhat similar species from the same region is '' Ophidiaster ophidianus''). The surface is dotted with evenly spaced pits from which the animal can extend its deep red gills (

papula Papulae (sing. papula; also occasionally papulla, papullae), also known as dermal branchiae or skin gills, are projections of the coelom of Asteroidea that serve in respiration and waste removal. Papulae are soft, covered externally with the epide ...

Distribution

''Echinaster sepositus'' is found in the East Atlantic north of the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

, including the

where it is one of the most common starfish (although virtually absent from some localities). Its northern limit is the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, but only on the French side. It is found at depths of in a wide range of habitats, including rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms, and sea grass 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 ...

'' and ''

Zostera ''Zostera'' is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass, or simply seagrass or eelgrass. The genus ''Zostera'' contains 15 species. Ecology '' Zostera marina'' is found on sandy substrates or in estuarie ...

'').Villamor, A.; R. Espluga; and M.A. Becerro (2010). ''Feeding habits of the common sea star Echinaster sepositus and its ecological implications on Mediterranean shallow rocky bottoms''.
résumé
). VI Simposio Ibérico de Estudios de Biología Marina, Alicante, Spain.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2118980 sepositus Echinoderms of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Mediterranean Sea Starfish described in 1805 Taxa named by Anders Jahan Retzius