Meshed pillow star
| Meshed pillow star | ||||||||||||
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Oreaster reticulatus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Oreaster reticulatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The net cushion star ( Oreaster reticulatus ), also known as net cushion star , is a large starfish that can reach 45 to 50 centimeters in diameter . It lives in the tropical western Atlantic from South Carolina to Brazil and in the eastern Atlantic around the Cape Verde Islands .
features
The net pillow star has a massive body with very broad arms at the base of the trunk, almost tapering at the front. Its body is covered with massive plates and short, blunt spines that form a reticulate pattern. In the middle of the fuselage they form a pentagonal structure. Young animals are mostly colored green. Adult specimens are usually brown or red with a yellow reticulate pattern or yellow with red spines.
Way of life
Meshed cushion stars live individually or in groups on sandy surfaces, often between seaweed , at depths between one and 35 meters. They feed on detritus , microorganisms, sponges , molluscs and other echinoderms, including smaller conspecifics. To eat, they turn their stomach out and digest outside of the body.
Reticulated pillow stars are probably separate sexes; asexual reproduction has not yet been observed.
Because of the beautiful colors, the animals are collected, dried and sold to tourists as souvenirs.
literature
- Svein A. Fossa / Alf Jacob Nilsen: Coral reef aquarium Volume 6 , Schmettkamp Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-928819-18-6
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 3, Mergus-Verlag, Melle, ISBN 3-88244-103-8
