Solaster dawsoni | |
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Solaster dawsoni off Vancouver. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Solasteridae |
Genus: | Solaster |
Species: | S. dawsoni |
Binomial name | |
Solaster dawsoni | |
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 morning sun star has a wide disc and 8 to 13 (usually 11 or 12) long, tapering arms, often with turned-up tips. The upper or aboral surface is smooth, and its colour is usually red, orange, grey, or pale brown, sometimes with paler patches. It grows to a width of about 40 cm (16 in). [2] [3]
The morning sun star occurs in the northern Pacific Ocean at depths to about 420 m (1,380 ft). Its range extends from Japan, China, and Siberia to the coasts of North America as far south as California. [2] It is often found in rocky habitats, but can also inhabit other types of seabed. [3]
The morning sun star is a predator, feeding mostly on other starfish. It is feared by other stars which move away as fast as they can if touched by a morning sun star. In British Columbia, about half of its diet consists of leather stars (Dermasterias imbricata), which move too slowly to evade it. Other sea stars such as the velcro star (Stylasterias forreri) and the rainbow star (Orthasterias koehleri) fight back at their attacker. They have numerous tiny pincer-like organs called pedicellariae and coil their arms around the morning sun star, nipping it with these. It recoils and its prey often manages to escape. Another sometimes successful defence strategy is used by the slime star (Pteraster tesselatus) which inflates its aboral surface making it difficult for the attacker to get a grip on it and at the same time exudes copious amounts of noxious mucus. [2] Even the often larger sunflower seastar (Pycnopodia helianthoides) retreats when touched by a morning sun star. [2] If grabbed, the sunflower star may leave one of its arms behind, a process called autotomy, sacrificing this limb to make its escape. [4] The morning sun is also a cannibal, feeding on other individuals of its own species, and also feeds on sea cucumbers and diamondback nudibranchs. [3]
The morning sun star breeds between March and June. The gonads release eggs and sperm which rise to the surface where the eggs are fertilised. They have large yolks and the developing larvae rely on this and do not feed. They can swim and they drift with the currents as part of the zooplankton. They later sink to the seabed and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile starfish. [3] [5]
This species has been subject to the Sea star wasting disease since 2013. [6]
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.
Tube feet are small active tubular projections on the oral face of an echinoderm, whether the arms of a starfish, or the undersides of sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers; they are more discreet though present on brittle stars, and have only a feeding function in feather stars. They are part of the water vascular system.
The Echinasteridae are a family of starfish in the monotypic order Spinulosida. The family includes eight genera and about 133 species found on the seabed in various habitats around the world.
Pycnopodia helianthoides, commonly known as the sunflower sea star, is a large sea star found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The only species of its genus, it is among the largest sea stars in the world, with a maximum arm span of 1 m (3.3 ft). Adult sunflower sea stars usually have 16 to 24 limbs. They vary in color. A carnivorous animal, Sunflower sea stars eat many different kinds of dead and alive prey to fill their diets. They are predatory, feeding mostly on sea urchins, clams, sea snails, and other small invertebrates. Although the species was widely distributed throughout the northeast Pacific, its population rapidly declined from 2013. The sunflower sea star is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
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.
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.
Sunstar or Sun Star may refer to:
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.
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.
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.
Comatulida is an order of crinoids. Members of this order are known as feather stars and mostly do not have a stalk as adults. The oral surface with the mouth is facing upwards and is surrounded by five, often divided rays with feathery pinnules. Comatulids live on the seabed and on reefs in tropical and temperate waters.
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.
Orthasterias is a genus of sea stars in the family Asteriidae. Orthasterias koehleri, the rainbow star or red-banded sea star, is the only species in the genus. It is found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Pteraster tesselatus, the slime star or cushion star, is a species of starfish in the family Pterasteridae found in the North Pacific.
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).
Sea star wasting disease or starfish wasting syndrome is a disease of starfish and several other echinoderms that appears sporadically, causing mass mortality of those affected. There are approximately 40 species of sea stars that have been affected by this disease. At least 20 of these species were on the Northwestern coast of Mexico to Alaska. The disease seems to be associated with increased water temperatures in some locales, but not others. It starts with the emergence of lesions, followed by body fragmentation and death. In 2014 it was suggested that the disease is associated with a single-stranded DNA virus now known as the sea star-associated densovirus (SSaDV). However, this hypothesis was refuted by recent research in 2018 and 2020. Sea star wasting disease is still not fully understood.
Ptilosarcus gurneyi, the orange sea pen or fleshy sea pen, is a species of sea pen in the family Pennatulidae. It is native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean where it lives in deep water anchored by its base in sand or mud. It has received its common name because of its resemblance to a quill in a bottle of ink.
Coscinasterias muricata is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is a large 11-armed starfish and occurs in shallow waters in the temperate western Indo-Pacific region.
Rathbunaster is a monospecific genus of sea stars in the family Asteriidae. The genus name was given by Walter Kenrick Fisher to honor the starfish biologist Richard Rathbun of the Smithsonian Institution. He originally ranged this genus under the family Pycnopididae, synonymous with Asteriidae.