| Ceramaster patagonicus | |
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| Preserved specimen of Ceramaster patagonicus | |
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| Species: | C. patagonicus |
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| Ceramaster patagonicus | |
Ceramaster patagonicus, the cookie star, is a species of sea star. It is bright orange or yellow in colour. Its arms are short and it has no spines. It is a deep water species and lives on rocky sea beds. Its diet includes sponges.
The World Register of Marine Species lists four subspecies: [1]
The cookie star is roughly pentagonal in shape with a diameter of up to 16 centimetres (6.3 in). It has a slightly inflated, broad central disc and five short rays. The aboral (upper) surface is covered with neatly arranged flat-topped scales, polygonal in the central area and hexagonal on the rays. Between the rays the scales are small and crowded together. There is a marginal row of distinctive larger scales forming a bevelled edge. Sometimes the disc and ray areas are swollen with sunken inter-radial areas between. This may happen when the starfish has recently fed or when its gonads are enlarged prior to spawning. The general colour is yellow, orange or pink. [2] [3] It is larger than the rather similar Arctic cookie star ( Ceramaster arcticus ) and does not have red patches on the aboral surface as that species often has. [4]
The cookie star is found in the Southern Ocean, the Strait of Magellan and in Australian and New Zealand waters. [1] It is also found on the west coast of North and South America from Alaska southwards to Cape Horn. [3] It is a deep water species, in the Southern Ocean being found at depths varying between 100 and 5,000 metres (330 and 16,400 ft) but is commonest at depths less than 250 metres (820 ft). [2]
The cookie star feeds on sponges such as the cloud sponge ( Aphrocallistes vastus ) and the chocolate puffball sponge ( Latrunculia austini ). [3] The Morning sun star (Solaster dawsoni) is a predatory starfish that feeds on other starfish. If approached by a morning sun star, a cookie star does not attempt to flee, although this would be a pointless strategy as the cookie star is a very slow crawler. The morning sun star climbs on top in its usual attacking position but soon gives up and looks very sick, apparently repelled by a toxic chemical substance. In an experiment, four cookie stars were kept in a tank with a number of hungry morning sun stars for a period of two months, but none were harmed. [3]
Mediaster aequalis is a species of sea star in the family Goniasteridae. It is native to the west coast of North America, ranging from Alaska to California. It is found in various habitats including beaches during very low tides, and at depths down to about 500 m (1,600 ft). Also known as the vermilion sea star, it is the type species of the genus Mediaster and was first described in 1857 by the American zoologist William Stimpson.
Solaster paxillatus, the orange sun star, is a species of starfish found at varying depths in the northern Pacific Ocean. It is a natural predator of the starfish Asterias amurensis.
Astropecten aranciacus, the red comb star, is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. It is native to the east Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Ceramaster is a genus of cushion stars in the family Goniasteridae. The species in this genus have no arms. They live in deeper waters than most sea stars.
The leather star is a sea star in the family Asteropseidae found at depths to 100 m (328 ft) off the western seaboard of North America. It was first described to science by Adolph Eduard Grube in 1857.
Astropecten irregularis is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. Common names include Sand sea star.
Astropecten jonstoni is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae.
Solaster stimpsoni, common names Stimpson's sun star, sun star, orange sun star, striped sunstar, and sun sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Solasteridae.
Solaster dawsoni, the morning sun star, is a species of starfish in the family Solasteridae. It is found on either side of the northern Pacific Ocean. It has two subspecies:
The purple sunstar, northern sunstar, or smooth sun star, Solaster endeca, is a species of starfish in the family Solasteridae.
Evasterias troschelii is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Its common names include the mottled star, false ochre sea star and Troschel's true star. It is found in Kamchatka and the north western coast of North America.
Labidiaster annulatus, the Antarctic Sun starfish or wolftrap starfish is a species of starfish in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in the cold waters around Antarctica and has a large number of slender, flexible rays.
Stylasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Stylasterias forreri, the velcro star, is the only species in the genus. It is found on the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States.
Pteraster tesselatus, the slime star or cushion star, is a species of starfish in the family Pterasteridae found in the North Pacific.
The sand star, Luidia foliolata, is a species of starfish in the family Luidiidae found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean on sandy and muddy seabeds at depths to about 600 m (2,000 ft).
Ophiothrix suensoni, Suenson's brittle star or the sponge brittle star, is a species of marine invertebrate in the order Ophiurida. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. It is included in the subgenus Acanthophiothrix making its full scientific name Ophiothrix (Acanthophiothrix) suensoni.
The orange knobby star, Echinaster echinophorus, is a species of sea star found in the Caribbean Sea and along the Atlantic coast of South America.
Echinaster spinulosus, the small spine sea star, is a species of sea star found in shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Ceramaster arcticus, the Arctic cookie star, is a species of sea star. It is pink and often has dark red accents. It has broad arms, no spines, and no pincers, or pedicellariae. It is considered rare and only inhabits the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northwestern North America.
Pteraster militaris, the wrinkled star, is a species of starfish in the family Pterasteridae. It is found in the northern Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea and the northern Atlantic Ocean.