| Neoferdina cumingi | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Valvatida |
| Family: | Goniasteridae |
| Genus: | Neoferdina |
| Species: | N. cumingi |
| Binomial name | |
| Neoferdina cumingi | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Neoferdina cumingi, also known as Cuming's sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
This starfish has a wide variety of colour forms but tends to be cryptic. It is typically symmetrically patterned with distinctive spots, some running laterally around the starfish's margin and others in rows which run down the five arms. In one colour morph, the spots on disc and arms were dark purple and those near the tips of the arms were reddish. The tip of each arm curls upwards, and the tube feet near the tip seem to have a chemosensory function. [2]
Neoferdina cumingi is native to shallow water reefs in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, through northwestern and northeastern Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, to the Central Pacific. [2] [3]
Although the feeding habits of this starfish have not been studied, it is part of the order Valvatida, and starfish in this order typically evert their stomach to engulf and digest their food before retracting the stomach back into the disc, bringing the partially digested prey with it. [2]
Like other starfish, this species is likely to be able to reproduce asexually after splitting apart, with even pieces as small as one fifth of the original volume being able to regenerate as long as the madreporite is present. Some members of Valvatida are hermaphrodites and others have separate sexes. In Neoferdina cumingi gametes are dispersed from the gonopore, which may be on the aboral (upper) surface or on the oral (under) surface of the animal. Two types of brachiolaria larvae appear to exist; some develop from yolky eggs and are non-swimming and non-feeding, while others have cilia and can swim, but do not feed. [2] The larvae are planktonic and drift with the currents for about four weeks before they need to find shallow water areas in which to settle, often at a considerable distance from their origins. [4]
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.
Linckia laevigata is a species of sea star in the shallow waters of tropical Indo-Pacific.
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Culcita is a genus of sea stars. They are found in tropical waters. Some are kept in home aquariums.
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Choriaster is monotypic genus in the family Oreasteridae containing the single species Choriaster granulatus commonly known as the granulated sea star. Other common names include big-plated sea star, Hunter-five Seastar and doughboy starfish. This species is harmless to humans.
Stichaster australis, the reef starfish, is a species of starfish found in the shallow waters of the rocky intertidal of New Zealand. Typically, the animal is endemic to the west coast shores of the North and South Islands, where wave action is increased. They do not usually inhabit ecosystems that have reduced wave action and calm conditions as they prefer a higher-energy environment. These marine invertebrates range in color from pink to purple, but can also be orange. They typically have eleven arms, but sometimes they may have either ten or twelve. As full-grown adults, they are 8 to 10 cm in diameter.
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Acanthaster brevispinus, the short-spined crown-of-thorns starfish, is one of the two members of the starfish genus Acanthaster, along with the much better-known A. planci, the common crown-of-thorns starfish.
Archaster typicus is a species of starfish in the family Archasteridae. It is commonly known as the sand star or the sand sifting star but these names are also applied to starfish in the genus Astropecten. It is found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific region.
Fromia monilis, common name necklace starfish or tiled starfish, is a species of starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Fromia is a genus of starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Ophidiaster granifer, the grained seastar, is a species of starfish in the family Ophidiasteridae. It is found in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific and is the only known species of starfish to reproduce by parthenogenesis.
Iconaster longimanus, the icon star or double star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is found in the west and central Indo-Pacific Ocean. The genus name comes from the Greek eikon, meaning portrait or image and possibly referring to the way the marginal plates frame the disc, and aster, meaning star. The specific name comes from the Latin longus manus and refers to the long, slender arms.
Fromia nodosa, commonly called elegant sea star, is a species of marine starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.
Echinaster luzonicus, the Luzon sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Echinasteridae, found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes lives symbiotically with a copepod or a comb jelly, and is prone to shed its arms, which then regenerate into new individuals.
Echinaster callosus, the warty sea star or the banded bubble star, is a species of starfish found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. The disc and five slender arms are covered with white, pink, red or violet warts, often forming transverse bands of colour on the arms.
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Thromidia catalai, sometimes called the heavy starfish, is a species of starfish in the family Mithrodiidae in the order Valvatida. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. Thromidia catalai is one of the largest and heaviest starfishes in the world. It is reported to weigh as much as 6 kg (13 lb) and have a diameter of 60 to 65 cm. This species was first described by the Australian biologists E. C. Pope and F. W. E. Rowe in 1977, the type locality being New Caledonia.