Elephant Puppet Meets The Spiny Starfish
3Facts about the spiny starfish
The spiny starfish is unmistakeable - firstly, it is HUGE, growing to the size of a dustbin lid. Secondly, it really is very spiny - its whole body covered in white spines. It lives in shallow waters close to shore and down to depths of 200m. Spiny starfish are pale and normally pretty easy to spot on the seabed. Their skin is a pale grey-green and they often have beautiful purple tips to the end of their arms. Like other starfish, they too are a voracious predator and prey on bivalve molluscs, crustaceans and other starfish.
How to identify
The spiny starfish is a pale greyish-green colour, sometimes with purple tips to its 5 arms. It is spiny - with each arm covered in three rows of spines. They can grow up to a huge 70cm across but most are smaller, with an average size of 30cm across. Smaller individuals can be confused with the Northern Starfish - a more northern species that lacks the white "wreath" like pedicellarie around the spines.
Distribution
Most commonly recorded on the southwest coasts of England and Wales and west coast of Britain. It is also recorded at St Abbs on the East Coast.
more facts about the spiny starfish.
Marthasterias glacialis is a large starfish up to 70 cm across, commonly 25-30 cm. It has 5 narrow tapering arms with 3 rows of longitudinal spines along each arm. The spines are white, usually with purple tips. spines are surrounded by specialised minute modified spines (pedicellariae), which are used for protection and to gather food. Marthasterias glacialis can be dirty brown to pale greyish green in colour with purple tips to the arms.