Astropecten aranciacus lives very near the coast, and at low tide it buries itself in the sand, showing only the centre of its upper side which is swollen in the form of a cone. This cone acts like a sense organ. When it is touched, the cone contracts and the starfish buries itself on the sand again. Then at high tide, the starfish reappears on the surface of the substrate. It buries itself in the sand to shield parts of its body from the rays of the sun, especially the bottom surface which has no coloured pigment and is therefore particularly sensitive. Astropecten aranciacus lives on sandy, muddy or gravel bottoms at depths of 2–100 metres (7–300 ft). This species is active and easy to find in the late afternoon and during the night.
Description
This starfish has superomarginal plates equipped with 1 to 3 small spines and inferomarginal plates with long, pointed, strong, regularly arranged spines. The inferomarginal spines have reddish-orange colour at the base and yellowish or white colour towards the tip. It is rugged with normal size disc and pointed arms. The colour of the aboral side is given by a succession of paxillae (from the top they look like round points) with upper extremity red-orange in various combinations with paxillae with upper extremity grey or beige. The superomarginal plates are usually grey or beige homogeneous. This is the largest species of Astropecten in the Mediterranean Sea, with a maximum diameter of 55 centimetres (22 in), although it usually measures about 30 cm (12 in).
It is a starfish with a lot of features and can be distinguished easily from the other species by colour and size. Sometimes it is confused with Astropecten irregularis.
Feeding
This sea star is a carnivore and feeds on molluscs, which it catches with its arms and then takes to the mouth. The prey is then trapped by the long, moving prickles around the mouth cavity.
References
^ abcC. Mah & H. Hansson (2010). Mah CL (ed.). "Astropecten aranciacus (Linnaeus, 1758)". World Asteroidea database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
(in English) Roberto Pillon (2009). Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea
(in French) Koehler, Réné. 1921. Faune de France. Echinodermes.
(in Italian) Tortonese, Enrico. 1965. Fauna d'Italia. Echinodermata.
(in German) Ludwig, Hubert. 1897. Die Seesterne des Mittelmeeres. Zoologischen station zu Neapel.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astropecten aranciacus.
(in English) Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea
(in Italian) Downloadable WoRMS: Roberto Pillon (2009). Orientarsi in un mare di stelle
(in French) DORIS
(in Italian) Naturamediterraneo
Photos of Astropecten aranciacus on Sealife Collection
December 27, 2022
astropecten, aranciacus, comb, star, star, family, astropectinidae, native, east, atlantic, ocean, portugal, angola, mediterranean, bottomdetail, paxillae, with, orange, grey, beigescientific, classificationkingdom, animaliaphylum, echinodermataclass, asteroid. Astropecten aranciacus the red comb star is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae 1 It is native to the east Atlantic Ocean Portugal to Angola and Mediterranean Sea 1 Astropecten aranciacusAstropecten aranciacus on sea bottomDetail of paxillae with the top red orange or grey beigeScientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum EchinodermataClass AsteroideaOrder PaxillosidaFamily AstropectinidaeGenus AstropectenSpecies A aranciacusBinomial nameAstropecten aranciacus Linnaeus 1758 Synonyms 1 Asterias aranciaca Linnaeus 1758 Asterias aurantiaca Tiedemann 1816 Astropecten antarcticus Studer 1884 Astropecten aurantiaca Gray 1840 Astropecten crenaster Dujardin amp Hupe 1862 Astropecten meridionalis Studer 1876 Astropecten perarmatus Perrier 1869 Contents 1 Habitat and behaviour 2 Description 3 Feeding 4 References 5 External linksHabitat and behaviour EditAstropecten aranciacus lives very near the coast and at low tide it buries itself in the sand showing only the centre of its upper side which is swollen in the form of a cone This cone acts like a sense organ When it is touched the cone contracts and the starfish buries itself on the sand again Then at high tide the starfish reappears on the surface of the substrate It buries itself in the sand to shield parts of its body from the rays of the sun especially the bottom surface which has no coloured pigment and is therefore particularly sensitive Astropecten aranciacus lives on sandy muddy or gravel bottoms at depths of 2 100 metres 7 300 ft This species is active and easy to find in the late afternoon and during the night Description EditThis starfish has superomarginal plates equipped with 1 to 3 small spines and inferomarginal plates with long pointed strong regularly arranged spines The inferomarginal spines have reddish orange colour at the base and yellowish or white colour towards the tip It is rugged with normal size disc and pointed arms The colour of the aboral side is given by a succession of paxillae from the top they look like round points with upper extremity red orange in various combinations with paxillae with upper extremity grey or beige The superomarginal plates are usually grey or beige homogeneous This is the largest species of Astropecten in the Mediterranean Sea with a maximum diameter of 55 centimetres 22 in although it usually measures about 30 cm 12 in It is a starfish with a lot of features and can be distinguished easily from the other species by colour and size Sometimes it is confused with Astropecten irregularis Feeding EditThis sea star is a carnivore and feeds on molluscs which it catches with its arms and then takes to the mouth The prey is then trapped by the long moving prickles around the mouth cavity References Edit a b c C Mah amp H Hansson 2010 Mah CL ed Astropecten aranciacus Linnaeus 1758 World Asteroidea database World Register of Marine Species Retrieved December 30 2010 in English Roberto Pillon 2009 Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea in French Koehler Rene 1921 Faune de France Echinodermes in Italian Tortonese Enrico 1965 Fauna d Italia Echinodermata in German Ludwig Hubert 1897 Die Seesterne des Mittelmeeres Zoologischen station zu Neapel External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astropecten aranciacus in English Downloadable WoRMS Roberto Pillon 2009 Astropecten of the Mediterranean Sea in Italian Downloadable WoRMS Roberto Pillon 2009 Orientarsi in un mare di stelle in French DORIS in Italian Naturamediterraneo Photos of Astropecten aranciacus on Sealife Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Astropecten aranciacus amp oldid 1091165716, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
