It's
easy to see where this small starfish got its name, it really does look
like a little star-shaped cushion. Keep an eye out under rocks next
time you're rockpooling for this little beauty.
About
A
small, thick starfish with five short arms, the cushion star is found
on all western and southern coasts of the UK. For a chance to see these
adorable starfish, look under rocks or in crevices in rockpools. Whilst
they like to live in rockpools, they also like the occasional deep dive
to the seabed! They feed at night but aren’t fussy and will eat whatever
they can find. Cushion stars are echinoderms, which means ‘spiny
skinned’ and it’s easy to see why, as their body is covered in short
orange spines. How to identify
A
small starfish that grows up to 5cm, with 5 (rarely 4 or 6) very short,
broad arms. It has a puffy appearance, like a cushion. The dorsal
surface is rough with projecting spines. The ventral surface is flat,
with the mouth at the centre. Each of the mouth's plates bear two
spines. Its colour varies but is most commonly pale orange, brown, green
or cream.Distribution
Common on all British coasts but sparse in the North-East and not recorded from Lincolnshire around to Hampshire.Did you know?
All Cushion stars are born
male! It is a "protandrous hermaphrodite", meaning that small or young
individuals are males but when individuals increase beyond a certain
size, they develop into females.
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