Forbes' Sea Star (Asterias forbesi)
Forbes' Sea Star (Asterias forbesi)
Common name: Forbes’ sea star
Scientific name: Asterias forbesi
Locations: shallow waters of the coast, attached to rocks
Seasonality: available all year
Colors: tan, brown, olive, pink
Size: 3” - 6”
Collected: by hand
Quantity: sold by the each
Two stars beside each other. The orange - colored feature on the dorsal side of the visible star is its madreporite, through which it sucks seawater through its vascular circulation system.
Tidepool Tim says, “Similar to all sea stars, A. forbesi has “spiny skin” over its skeleton made by a thin layer of skin covering spiny bones. The skeleton is composed by bony plates bound by connective tissue to create moving joints. The spines are surrounded at the base by pedicellariae, which are small jaws that clear the sea star’s body of debris.”
