Asterias glacialis

Jeremy Pierce Is this Red colour unusual for this Marthasterias glacialis....Spiny starfish to me!! Photographed on Hand Deeps reef off Plymouth yesterday.

Mary Restell nope! :)

Tony Gilbert It is one of the known colour variations, although I think grey-yellow is the one I've most seen whilst diving around Plymouth, prob. the same as most divers, so I think this is a good spot. In the Canary Is. ones I see are more deep green.

Alessandro Borsini Marthasterias glacialis Calafuria - Livorno - Italy Olympus PEN EPL1 lens 45 macro f 14, 1/160, Iso 200 Strobe S&S YS27e YS110

Erling Svensen And my favorite seastar - Marthasterias glacialis again.

Erling Svensen Some pictures from todays dive. On the pictures, Marthasterias glacialis, Psammechinus miliaris and Ophiocomina nigra.

Bernard Picton I like the pedicellariae. I've been taking some close-up photos of Echinoderms myself as those features are used in identification.

Keith Hiscock The Marthasterias glacialis were up-and-at-it this evening (22 May). Dive at the end of the flood and I counted nine Marthasterias up on tiptoe producing either white stuff or pink stuff. There were another four doing nothing obvious. Presumably, sperm = white, eggs = pink. Comments?

Christopher L. Mah I'll add it to the list of species I've observed doing this. Surprisingly, its quite poorly understood. http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/starfish-standing-on-their-tippy-toes.html

John Paul Connor Marthasterias glacialis Etoile de mer glaciaire, étoile épineuse grotte de la Calanque de Maupas France 30/04/2013 Sony DSC W630 1/30 f/2,6 4,5mm Iso 400

Aqua Soul Lovely play of colours and light here John

John Paul Connor Thank you Aqua Soul

Bomber Harris Just for Dawn and Wendy..... Marthasterias glacialis :)

Wendy Northway I concur!

Francesco Turano Mediterranean Sea, Strait of Messina Marthasterias glacialis

Stephen Williams You do take great pics mate ...

Ilse Merz great shot!

Manfred Mitter Nice :-) a spiny starfish in english? Eisseestern in tedesco. In Italiano?

Francesco Turano Stella marina!

John Paul Connor Marthasterias glacialis Etoile de mer glaciaire, étoile épineuse Grotte de la Cathédrale du Trayas Sony DSC-W630

Stuart Pearce Very nice shot :)

John Paul Connor Thank you Stuart

Heike Odeh Very nice !

John Paul Connor Thank you Heike

Marie-therese Bertin sublime couleurs!

John Paul Connor Merci Marie-therese

Annie Bodar magnifique merci

John Paul Connor Merci Annie

Ernst Andres I like it :-)

John Paul Connor Merci Mon Ami

Stuart Pearce The beautiful starfish (Marthasterias glacialis)... Olu Deniz Lagoon, Turkey 2009.

Marie-therese Bertin superbe photo!!

Stuart Pearce Thanks Marie-therese :)

John Paul Connor Marthasterias glacialis Etoile de mer glaciaire, étoile épineuse Novembre 2012 Théoule sur Mer fujifilm finepix

Marie-therese Bertin de toute beauté!!!

John Paul Connor Merci Marie-therese

Stuart Pearce Nice shot :)

John Paul Connor Thank you Stuart

Sara Tome hermosa¡¡¡

Joaquin Muñoz Estrellas de Mar Catalonia Costa Brava 2013

Stuart Pearce Very nice composition :)

Joaquin Muñoz Thanks Stuart, greetings :)

ALperen Barut yeep very nice composition :) unbeliveible blue :)

Joaquin Muñoz Thanks Alperen, greetings

Marie-therese Bertin très beau!!!

Antonio Colacino Marthasterias glacialis, a nice shot :)

Joaquin Muñoz Greetings :)

Bomber Harris ok starter for ten.... what sort of starfish is this and for an extra 5 points whats its latin name :)

Mandy Knott Anyone who wants a good website to find it on try: http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/index.html

Bomber Harris errrrm beats me.... unless i have a picture i can compair it against im useless :(

Bomber Harris dawn.... that would be the pic of the white starfish under the rock... its the only starfish pic i took :)

Mandy Knott Start with what kind of a creature it is - ie. what group (or phylum) does it fit into. That narrows it down and then you can go into the list on the left hand side of the habitas website - loads of photos there to compare it with. I've had a look and you'll definitely find it there!

Mandy Knott If you're not sure what phylum it is - Google 'starfish' to get you started. :)

Bomber Harris so i recon it is Asterias rubens Linnaeus :)

Mandy Knott You're in the right department! Have a look at Marthasterias glacialis and see whether you think it's Asterias or Marthasterias. If you read the description about the number and arrangement of spines that might help decide. Just so you know - the Linnaeus bit refers to the person who first identified and classified it - in both cases it was Linnaeus in 1758. This is Carl Linnaeus an important biologist from 18th century. His name crops up rather a lot but you can leave that bit out when giving them their latin name. Hope this helps!

Bomber Harris hmmm could be the Marthasterias.... if i zoom in on the pic i see Large spines forming three main rows along each arm. White spines with purple tips.

Mandy Knott Way to go!

Bomber Harris dawn.....errr dont think so or Mandy wouldnt be able to see the pic

Wendy Northway I can't see the picture either, either that or the psychic link has broken....