This is the entity page showing aggregated messages and images for the named entity.
Asterina gibbosa
(Pennant, 1777)
George Brown Took this photo of Lineus longissimus last weekend but looking at the image later noticed about 30 tiny orange starfish grouped together. Each starfish is about 5 to 7mm in diameter. I thought starfish larvae formed part of the plankton as a dispersal strategy but does this species avoid that phase? East coast of Eilean nan Ron, north coast of Scotland, depth 4m. Photograph taken 14th April 2013.David Kipling Asterina phylatica is a brooder - sits over the eggs on the rock until they hatch and metamorphose. The baby starfish then crawl out from under the arms. There's a short window in early summer when you can catch them doing this, do I'm reliably informed.
David Kipling *so
George Brown Is Asterina gibbosa a brooder? I've got to say that I've never seen an adult form of either species. Must try harder!
Keith Hiscock They look rather like the Luidia sarsi that I see in late summer floating about in their gelatinous sheaths in the plankton. The orange colour is very 'Luidia'. Could a swarm have settled together? More ideas needed. Thought about Porania but that has a brachiolaria larva that spends more than a month in the plankton and none of the pics (Google search) show a distinct starfish. If staying together in a swarm, could metamorphose into the little ones in the photo?
Message posted on Echinoderms of the NE Atlantic on 19 Apr 2013