| Parvulastra exigua | |
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| Species: | P. exigua |
| Binomial name | |
| Parvulastra exigua (Lamarck, 1816) | |
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| Synonyms | |
Patiriella exigua | |
Parvulastra exigua, or the dwarf cushion star [1] is a species of sea star. It can be found in temperate intertidal marine communities from geographically widespread sites around the southern hemisphere (including South Africa and Australia).
Pentagonal body with no obvious protruding arms. Dorsal surface tiled with a small cluster of spines at each tile. Colour variegated, with bright patterns in orange, brown, green and white. [1]
Parvulastra exigua is found from Namibia to Mozambique on intertidal zones up to 3 m, on St Helena, St Paul, and southeastern Australia. [1]
Intertidal and slightly deeper, well camouflaged. Feeds on microscopic algae by everting stomach onto substrate. No planktonic larval stage. [1]
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and Eyre Peninsula in the west to Cape Spencer and Yorke Peninsula in the east.
Inverloch is a seaside town located in Victoria, Australia. It is located 143 kilometres (89 mi) south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland Highway on the Bass Highway at the mouth of Anderson Inlet, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the calm waters of Anderson Inlet, it is now also known for the discovery of Australia's first dinosaur bone.
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore or seashore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide. This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and many species of coral. Sometimes it is referred to as the littoral zone, although that can be defined as a wider region.
Intertidal ecology is the study of intertidal ecosystems, where organisms live between the low and high tide lines. At low tide, the intertidal is exposed whereas at high tide, the intertidal is underwater. Intertidal ecologists therefore study the interactions between intertidal organisms and their environment, as well as between different species of intertidal organisms within a particular intertidal community. The most important environmental and species interactions may vary based on the type of intertidal community being studied, the broadest of classifications being based on substrates—rocky shore and soft bottom communities.
The red rock crab, Guinusia chabrus, is a marine large-eyed crab of the family Plagusiidae. It is found in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.
Cape Paterson is a cape and seaside village located near the town of Wonthaggi, 132 kilometres (82 mi) south-east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the discovery of coal by William Hovell in 1826, it is now extremely popular for its beaches and rockpool and at the 2011 census, it had a population of 718.
The Asterinidae are a large family of sea stars in the order Valvatida.
The Bunurong Marine National Park is a protected marine national park located off the coast of Cape Paterson in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The 2,100-hectare (5,200-acre) marine national park is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of Inverloch and about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) off the coastline. The coastal waters protect a range of habitats including intertidal reefs, subtidal rocky reefs, algal gardens and seagrass beds. The waters are cool, akin to Victoria’s central and western coasts. However, they are relatively protected from south-westerly swells due to the location of far away King Island, Tasmania.
The crumb-of-bread sponge is a species of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.
The Mediterranean mussel is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture.
Parvulastra parvivipara is a very small species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is a viviparous species and gives birth to live young. It lives in rock pools on intertidal granite rocks in a limited area of South Australia.
Heliaster kubiniji is a species of starfish in the order Forcipulatida. It is commonly known as the gulf sun star, the common sun star or estrella de mar de golfo and it occurs in the intertidal zone of the Pacific coast of California, Mexico and Nicaragua.
P. exigua may refer to:
Cape Byron Marine Park is one of four Marine Parks in New South Wales, Australia, and is the most recently sanctioned. The Cape Byron Marine Park is located in Northern NSW and extends 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the Brunswick River to Lennox Head. The Marine Park extends out to 3 nautical miles which dictates the border between state and federal jurisdiction. The marine park covers the area of 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi) and includes a variety of marine terrain including beaches, rocky shores, open ocean and the tidal waters of the Brunswick River and its tributaries, the Belongil creek and Tallow Creek. The Cape Byron Marine Park was declared in 2002 and the zoning plan was implemented in April 2006. Of the 15 distinct marine ecosystems identified within the Tweed-Moreton bioregion, the Cape Byron Marine Park supports 10 of these.
Parvulastra vivipara, the Tasmanian live-bearing seastar, is a tiny, uniformly orange-yellow seastar, up to 15 mm (0.6 in) across. The species usually has five short arms and is a rounded, pentagon shape. Morphological variation is common and three, four or six arms are occasionally present. It is endemic to coastal waters in southeast Tasmania.
Aldinga Reef Aquatic Reserve is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in waters adjoining the east coast of Gulf St Vincent including land within the intertidal zone in the suburbs of Aldinga Beach and Port Willunga about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide.
Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state’s coastal waters adjoining both the west coast of Kangaroo Island and Lipson Reef, an islet located to the south of Kangaroo Island.
The Helderberg Marine Protected Area is a small marine conservation area on the north-eastern side of False Bay in the Western Cape province of South Africa, It lies between the mouths of the Lourens River in the Strand, and the Eerste River in Macassar.
Maria Byrne is professor of marine and developmental biology at the University of Sydney and a member of the Sydney Environment Institute. She spent 12 years as director of the university's research station on One Tree Island.
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