• Skip to main content
  • Français
Press
  • Home
  • Institute
    • Mediterranean species
      Annular seabream
      Axinella sponge
      Black scorpionfish
      Black seabream
      Black sea cucumber
      Black sea urchin
      Blacktailed wrasse
      Blotched picarel
      • About
      • › In brief
      • › Global advocacy
      • › 50+ years of history
      • The Team
      • › Organisation
      • The Aquarium
      • › About the aquarium
      • › Practical information
      • › Mediterranean species
      • › Mediterranean biotopes
      • A site in nature
      • › Les Embiez island
      • The Association
      • › Board of directors
      • › Honorary committee
      • › Become a member
  • Research
    • Research Programmes
      LIFE Pinnarca
      MaCoBios
      Posidonia oceanica seagrass m [...]
      New Innovative Feed for Susta [...]
      Environmental DNA (eDNA)
      Ich.T.O.
      Podestat
      Integrated multi-trophic aqua [...]
      • › Research programmes
      • › Research Center
      • › Scientific Communication
      • › International Cooperation
      • › Take OFF, Take Ocean For Future
  • Outreach
    • Environmental issues
      Climate
      Biodiversity
      Nature-based solutions
      Living resources
      Governance
      The Mediterranean, a model ocean
      • › Popular science
      • › Newsletter
      • › Media Library
      • › Press review
      • › Environmental issues
 › Abécédaire › Spiny starfish
Mediterranean species :

Spiny starfish

A voracious star!
Did you know ?
Its arms are so strong that it can crack open bivalve molluscs like mussels or oysters.

The spiny starfish is one of the largest species of starfish in the Mediterranean. Reaching up to 80 centimetres in diameter, it is a voracious predator, feeding on shellfish, crustaceans and sea urchins that it captures beneath the stones and in the cavities where it lives. Each of its five arms has three rows of thick folds covered in spines, which give it a bulky appearance. Its colouring is variable, from salmon pink to brown or green. It is also found in the Atlantic from the United Kingdom to Senegal down to depths of 200 metres.

Tweet
Share
Share
0 Shares

Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Forcipulatida
Family: Asteriidae
Scientific name: Marthasterias glacialis

French: Astérie glaciaire
Spanish: Estrella de mar espinosa
Italian: Martasterias
German: Eisstern

Stone bass Prev
Spiny lobster Next
Institut océanographique Paul Ricard
Île des Embiez - 83140 Six-Fours-les-Plages
Tél. +33 (0)4 94 34 02 49
  • › Partners
  • › Press
  • › Sitemap
  • › Terms & Conditions
  • › Privacy Policy
  • › Cookies Policy
  • › Credits