''Coscinasterias tenuispina'' is a
starfish
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Asteriidae
The Asteriidae are a diverse family of Asteroidea (sea stars) in the order Forcipulatida. It is one of three families in the order Forcipulatida.
Genera
The World Register of Marine Species lists these genera within the family Asteriidae (in a ...
. It is sometimes called the blue spiny starfish or the white starfish. It occurs in shallow waters in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
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Description
''Coscinasterias tenuispina'' has from 6 to 12 arms (usually 7), often of varying lengths, and grows to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter. It is a creamy, slightly bluish colour, variously blotched with brown, and is rough textured with short spines.
Distribution
The range of ''Coscinasterias tenuispina'' includes the Mediterranean Sea, France, Spain and Portugal, the Azores and other Atlantic Islands, Bermuda, Cuba and the American coast between North Carolina and Santos, Brazil. It is found on the lower shore and down to a depth of about 50 m (160 ft).[ A number of divergent populations of the starfish in the Atlantic and Mediterranean are believed to be deserving of being recognized as sub-species. The female population of the starfish in the Mediterranean is larger than that of the males.][
]
Biology
''Coscinasterias tenuispina'' is a predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
and an omnivore
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...
. The starfish is found on hard bottoms and under stones and seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
where it mainly feeds on other echinoderm
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...
s and on 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 ...
.[Blue spiny starfish: ''Coscinasterias tenuispina'']
Archipelagos Wildlife Library. Retrieved 2011-09-28. In most of its range, it undergoes sexual reproduction in the winter, while in the summer, it proliferates by asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...
.[ To begin the process of asexual reproduction, or "fission", the disc tears itself into two sections, with each part eventually growing extra arms and developing into a new individual.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2719831
Asteriidae
Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean
Fauna of the Mediterranean Sea
Animals described in 1816
Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck