''Astropecten bispinosus'' 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'' ...

from 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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

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 day. During the late afternoon and during the night starfishes go out to hunt mainly

bivalve molluscs Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

, which are their favourite preys. This species lives only in the Mediterranean Sea and it prefers sandy seabed near meadows of ''

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

'' and it lives at depths between 2 and 100 m. This species is active and easy to find especially in the late afternoon, but sometimes it is possible to find it during the day or during the night.

Description

This sea star has very narrow and high superomarginal plates with a bare area on vertical face of them (visible in the lateral side of

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 ...

between inferomarginal spines and superomarginal spines). Every superomarginal plate is equipped with 1 very long, sharp, clean conical spine usually white colour but sometime yellow or orange. The superomarginal spine is always placed on the top internal edge of plates so there aren’t any bare area on top of superomarginal plates. The maximum number of superomarginal plates, observed on each arm, is 77; normally the number is between 40 and 60, depending on the size of the starfish. The pair of superomarginal spines between the arms is often longer than the other. The inferomarginal spines are long, flat, not pointed, usually kept parallel and well separated. Feature shape of this Astropecten has a very small disc and very long and thin arms. The aboral side has uniform colour and can be dark green, dark brown or rarely light brown-pink. The oral side is light coloured, usually white but it can be also yellow or orange. It has size quite large and may reach about 21 cm in diameter. This is a kind of starfish that can be distinguished by feature’s shape, the high number of superomarginal plates, the bare area on vertical face of superomarginal plates, the conical superomarginal spines and by the colour. This species may be confused with Astropecten platyacanthus.

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 whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

and feeds on

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

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''. * Tortonese, Enrico. 1934. ''Annali del Museo civico di storia naturale Giacomo Doria (Volume 57)''. * Emil Edler Von Marenzeller (1875). ''Revision adriatischer Seesterne''. * Ludwig, Hubert. 1897. ''Die Seesterne des Mittelmeeres. Zoologischen station zu Neapel''. * Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Döderlein. 1921. ''Die Asteriden der Siboga-Expedition''.

External links

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Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea
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Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Orientarsi in un mare di stelle
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DORIS
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WoRMS
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SeaLifeBase
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Naturamediterraneo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1933437 Astropecten Animals described in 1823