Dermasterias imbricata
| Dermasterias imbricata | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dermasterias imbricata |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dermasterias imbricata | ||||||||||||
| Pit , 1857 |
Dermasterias imbricata is a species of starfish from the order of the valve stars (Valvatida), whichis nativeto the North American Pacific coast and is omnivorous from algae and sessile animals such as z. B. Nourishes sea anemones .
features
Dermasterias imbricata has a broad central disc and five plump, short arms that quickly taper outward from a broad base on the central disc. On the underside of the arms there are two rows of suction cups with no limiting side plates. The smooth, velvety upper side has no pedicellariums and is covered with a reticulate reddish-brown pattern, which is often interrupted by grayish-blue spots. The Madreporenplatte is clearly visible. The starfish reaches a diameter of 25 cm and has a characteristic smell of garlic and sulfur.
Reproductive cycle
Off the coast of Washington , males and females come together in groups between April and August and release their germ cells into the open sea water, where the egg cells are fertilized by the sperm. The yellow eggs develop into free-swimming bipinnaria larvae posing as zooplankton of phytoplankton feed. In the next stage of Brachiolaria , the larvae attach themselves to the seabed and metamorphose into small starfish.
Distribution and occurrence
Dermasterias imbricata lives on the North American Pacific coast from central Alaska to northern Mexico , where it can be found in the shore zone and down to a depth of 100 m.
nutrition
Leather star feeds as omnivores both algae as well as a series of small animals such as sea anemones , hydroids , sea pens , colony forming tunicates , bryozoans and sponges , sometimes sea cucumber , sea urchins and starfish . With a maximum speed of about 15 cm / min, this starfish can only prey on very slow or sessile animals .
Enemies
One of the main enemies of Dermasterias imbricata is the sun star Solaster dawsoni , which can crawl much faster and is a main prey for Dermasterias imbricata .
literature
- Howard M. Feder: Asteroidea , in: Robert Hugh Morris, Donald Putnam Abbott, Eugene Clinton Haderlie: Intertidal Invertebrates of California . Pp. 117–135, here pp. 119f., 8.3: Dermasterias imbricata (Grube, 1857) . Stanford University Press, 1st ed., Stanford (CA, USA) 1980.
- Edward Flanders Ricketts, Jack Calvin, Joel Walker Hedgpeth, David W. Phillips: Between Pacific Tides . Fifth Edition. Stanford University Press, Stanford (California) 1985. p. 285 ( Dermasterias imbricata ).
Web links
- Leather star: Dermasterias imbricata . Sea stars of the Pacific Northwest (2011)