| Leptasterias tenera | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Forcipulatida |
| Family: | Asteriidae |
| Genus: | Leptasterias |
| Species: | L. tenera |
| Binomial name | |
| Leptasterias tenera | |
| Synonyms | |
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Leptasterias tenera is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found on the eastern coast of North America.
Leptasterias tenera is a small starfish with five arms [2] and a slow growth rate. It can grow to a diameter of 16 centimetres (6.3 in) but most adults only reach about half that size. [3]
Leptasterias tenera occurs on the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States, ranging from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island southwards to Cape Hatteras. [1] It is also known from the Sargasso Sea. [1] It is found at depths down to about 50 metres (160 ft) on sandy or muddy seabeds. [3]
Leptasterias tenera is an ambush predator. It remains stationary on the seabed for long periods, snaring any small crustaceans which come into contact with it, gripping them with its tube feet and pedicellariae and flexing its arms to transfer the prey to its mouth. Large items are pushed as far as they will go into the pyloric stomach but only the portion inside is digested at first. [3]
A study was undertaken of the breeding behaviour of Leptasterias tenera at Block Island near Rhode Island at a site about 30 metres (98 ft) deep where the sea floor was fine muddy sand. The area was dominated by the presence of tube-building amphipods and there were some bivalve molluscs. Leptasterias tenera was the most numerous predatory species but also present were other starfish Asterias forbesi and Asterias rubens and the Jonah crab Cancer borealis . Up to twelve Leptasterias tenera were found per square metre (ten per square yard). Examination of the stomach contents showed that the main items of diet were the numerous amphipods. Breeding took place in the winter. [3] The eggs were large and yolky and few in number. [2] The fertilised eggs were at first retained within the pyloric stomach of the female where the embryos underwent the first stages of their development. [3] Later they emerged and the brachiolaria larvae were brooded underneath the arched disc of the starfish. The breeding season lasted about four months but it was unclear for how long any individual female brooded her young. While brooding, feeding either stopped or was restricted but a few brooding females were found to have prey items in their pyloric stomachs. [3]
An echinoderm is any deuterostomal animal of the phylum Echinodermata, which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as larvae, as adults echinoderms are recognisable by their usually five-pointed radial symmetry, and are found on the sea bed at every ocean depth from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. The phylum contains about 7,600 living species, making it the second-largest group of deuterostomes after the chordates, as well as the largest marine-only phylum. The first definitive echinoderms appeared near the start of the Cambrian.
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 are also known as asteroids due to being in the class Asteroidea. About 1,900 species of starfish live on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from warm, tropical zones to frigid, polar regions. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, at 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the surface.
Asterias amurensis, also known as the Northern Pacific seastar and Japanese common starfish, is a seastar found in shallow seas and estuaries, native to the coasts of northern China, Korea, far eastern Russia, Japan, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and British Columbia in Canada. Two forms are recognised: the nominate and formarobusta from the Strait of Tartary. It mostly preys on large bivalve molluscs, and it is mostly preyed on by other species of starfish. Population booms in Japan can affect the harvest of mariculture operations and are costly to combat.
Leptasterias pusilla is a small, six-rayed sea star.
The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brownish in color, and sometimes violet; specimens found in deeper waters are pale. The common starfish is found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on mollusks and other benthic invertebrates.
Luidia ciliaris, the seven-armed sea star, is a species of sea star (starfish) in the family Luidiidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Luidia magnifica, the magnificent star, is a species of starfish in the family Luidiidae. It is found in the Pacific Ocean.
Leptasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. Members of this genus are characterised by having six arms although five-armed specimens sometimes occur. L. muelleri is the type species. The taxonomy of the genus is confusing and Leptasterias hexactis seems to be a species complex. Some species brood their eggs.
Leptasterias hexactis is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae, commonly known as the six-rayed star. It is found in the intertidal zone of the western seaboard of the United States. It is a predator and is unusual among starfish in that it broods its eggs and young.
Asterias forbesi, commonly known as Forbes sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
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.
Luidia senegalensis, the nine-armed sea star, is a tropical species of starfish in the family Luidiidae found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Anasterias rupicola is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Southern Ocean and sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
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.
Luidia foliolata, the sand star, 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).
Leptasterias polaris, the polar six-rayed star, is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in cold waters in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and in polar regions.
Patiria pectinifera, the blue bat star, is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is found in the northern Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Japan, China and Russia. It is used as a model organism in developmental biology.
Asterina gibbosa, commonly known as the starlet cushion star, is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Henricia sanguinolenta, commonly known as the northern henricia, is a species of sea star from the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Henricia sanguinolenta is very similar to Henricia oculata, also known as "bloody Henry", and the two can only be distinguished by laboratory tests. It comes in colors of red, yellow, orange, purple, and lavender.
Elizabeth Tucker Kinney Worley, was an American zoologist and microbiologist.