Orange common starfish with five arms spread against a black background.

Atlantic red sea star (Asterias rubens).

Creator: © Hans Hillewaert

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

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Species record

Common Starfish

Asterias rubens

Explore the Common Starfish (Asterias rubens) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The common starfish is abundant in the north-east Atlantic, from Arctic Norway south to Senegal, and occurs occasionally in the Mediterranean. It lives on rocky and gravel seabeds, fine sand, and algal carpets. It feeds on mussels and other bivalves, opening shells with its tube feet and everting its stomach to digest prey.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Echinoderms
  3. Class: Sea stars
  4. Order: Forcipulatida
  5. Family: Asteriidae
  6. Genus: Asterias

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
rock, coarse and shelly gravel, fine sand, algal carpets
Selected regions
Africa, Europe

Conservation status

Conservation status not recorded.

Did you know?

  • A common starfish can push its stomach through a tiny gap in a mussel shell and begin digesting its meal.

Sources and attribution