Common Starfish (Asterias rubens) can be found abundantly around the coastlines of the UK. They are variable in colour but are usually orange-yellow.
They are a highly predatory animal and ravenously devour mussels and limpet beds as they move across rock formations. Whilst it doesn’t look like they move, they actually have hundreds of tiny tube feet along each of their arms which enables them to move along at a slow pace.
Most starfish are capable of regenerating their limbs if they fall off. Interestingly, if a piece of the central nervous disk in the middle of the starfish also comes away with the limb then the starfish will grow into a whole new starfish by itself!
Type
Invertebrate
What do they eat?
Worms and molluscs
Size
30cm
Water Type
Cold saltwater
Where are we?
North Atlantic, UK coasts