Common sunstar
size:
35 centimeters in diameter
color:
variable: orange, red, yellow, pink, purple with lovely patterns
age:
11 to 20 years
food:
mollusc, bryozoan, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, starfish
reproduction:
sexual
- Dut: Zonnester
- Lat: Crossaster papposus
- Eng: Common sunstar
- Ger: Sonnenstern
- Dan: Piggede søsol
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- Common sun star, Ecomare
Common sunstar
The common sunstar is named after the fact that it looks like a sun with its 8 to 14 arms. Its colorful, sunny appearance makes you think it has a nice character, but nothing is farther from the truth. It is a fearsome predator, which scares the daylights out of common starfish and other smaller marine animals. The common sunstar is quite fast for a starfish, reaching top speeds of 70 centimeters per minute. There are films where you see how brittle stars and sea urchins run away as soon as a sunstar is in the vicinity. If they are not fast enough, they are inevitably consumed.
- Distribution and habitat
- Sun star, foto fitis, sytske dijksen
Sunstars can be found in shallow water but also as deep as 1200 meters. They are rare in the southern North Sea; they normally live in the northern North Sea. You won't find them in the Wadden Sea or delta waters.
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