Hippasteria phrygiana
Species of starfish
Hippasteria phrygiana | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Goniasteridae |
Genus: | Hippasteria |
Species: | H. phrygiana |
Binomial name | |
Hippasteria phrygiana (Parelius, 1768) | |
Synonyms | |
Hippasteria spinosa Verrill, 1909 |
Hippasteria phrygiana is a sea star species, a member of the Goniasteridae family.
Description and characteristics
This species grows up to 20 cm in diameter, with short arms and a large body. The upper surface is red and covered with rounded knob-like spines; the lower surface contains many macroscopic bivalved pedicellariae.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Olympic_Coast_National_Marine_Sanctuary_2010_Solaster_dawsoni_attacking_Hippasteria_spinosa.jpg/290px-Olympic_Coast_National_Marine_Sanctuary_2010_Solaster_dawsoni_attacking_Hippasteria_spinosa.jpg)
Habitat and geographic range
This species is incredibly widely distributed: it is present in the 3 main oceanic basins.[1]
It lives mostly in cold and deep waters.[1]
Biology
This species feeds mostly on cnidarians, especially deep-sea corals.[2]
References
- ^ a b Mah, Christopher L. (2013-02-12). "Starfish Mystery! 3 Oceans,2 Hemispheres,but ONE species?!". The Echinoblog.
- ^ Mah, Christopher L. (2013-09-16). "Goniasterid Starfish LOVE to eat Octocorals!". The Echinoblog.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hippasteria phrygiana.
- Habitas entry
- Catalog of Life entry
- National Center for Biotechnology Information search
- Seawater.no entry
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