15 Fabulous Starfishes Under The Sea You Need To See Them Now

Starfish, or even more technically exact, seastars, are fascinating creatures and also amazingly varied. Most typically considered a five-armed intertidal varieties, starfish been available in myriad shapes, dimensions, shades, arm matters, and also are discovered from coastlines to the deep sea. Here are a few of the many attractive, odd as well as shocking varieties of sea stars all over the world. Happy reading everyone!

1. Pacific Blood Star

starfish – Pacific Blood Star

They are among the most brightly colored sea star species in the intertidal zone and are found at depths of over 1,000 feet. Despite the creepy name, this common starfish is actually a very small, slender species that feeds on sponges and bacteria. Meanwhile, its main predators are birds and humans.

2. Australian Sand Star

starfish – Australian Sand Star

It’s sometimes found washed up on the beach after storms. The mottled coloring of this species helps to camouflage it in the sediment of sea grass beds of the Pacific Ocean around New Zealand and Australia. Typically sporting seven arms, it grows to be around 16 inches in diameter.

3. Necklace Starfish

starfish – Necklace Starfish

Necklace Starfish also called the red tile starfish for obvious reasons. They can be found in shallow water in rocky areas, it feeds on sponges and small invertebrates. This jewel-like starfish is found in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. It can get as large as 12 inches across, and has unusual and beguiling coloring. That plus its relative hardiness makes it a favorite for people who keep salt water aquariums.

4. Black Brittle Star

starfish – Black Brittle Star

With a central body disc of up to 25 mm in diameter and five arms of about 5 times that length. Colour varying from black to brown, grey or pink, often it is more or less spotted. The dorsal side is smooth and completely covered by small granules.

5. Cushion Sea Star

starfish – Cushion Sea Star

The body is thick and heavy. The species lives on sandy bottoms or in sea grass fields in shallow waters. This species is well known because of the size. Short, knobby spines on the surface form a net-like pattern. When young, the color is olive green, later the color changes to brown or orange.

6. Panamic Cushion Star

starfish – Panamic Cushion Star

Appropriately, it is also called a knobby star. They can reach up to 18 inches in diameter, and feast on mussels and barnacles. They are considered a keystone species in tidepools thanks to the work they do to keep mussel populations under control. But it’s not without effort — it can take a starfish upwards of six hours to eat a single mussel. This beautiful species is found around the Gulf of Panama and the Pearl Islands, all the way up to the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean.

7. Brisingid Sea Star

starfish – Brisingid Sea Star – images : realmonstrosities.com

They look almost more like a seaweed or coral than a sea star. Skipping a specific species, these sea stars are so fantastic. They are suspension feeders, using their arms, which number from six to 16, to filter water and capture food as it drifts by. The 70 or so species within this order live in the deep sea, at depths between 330 feet to over 19,000 feet below.

8. Egyptian Sea Star

starfish – Egyptian Sea Star

This spiky sea star lies at the depths seabed of 20-25 feet. Like May starfish, it can regenerate parts of its body that are damaged. It can be found along the coasts of Madagascar and eastern Africa. But with those spikes, it doesn’t look like a sea star you want to reach out and disturb with.

9. Northern Henricia

starfish – Northern Henricia – images : wikiwand.com

Northern Henricia’s colours varying from red to pink and yellow. These species prefers hard substrata and is found from shallow water down to depths of 1000 m or more. The upper surface is irregular with scattered groups of small spines. The number of spines in these groups varies.  In large specimens, the arms may be very much swollen and broad.

10. Goose Feet Starfish

starfish – Goose Feet Starfish

In the North Sea this species is distributed from the Shetland Islands down to Hartlepool on the British east coast. This species prefers sandy bottoms, and appears to lie more or less buried in the sand. It is found from about 10-200 m, exceptionally down to 600 m.

11. Common Sunstar

starfish – Common Sunstar

The Common Sunstar’s oral side is coloured whitish. This species is distributed from the Arctic down to the English Channel, also on both east and Pacific coasts of North America. It is found from the 0-1200 m. It has a large body disc and usually coloured purplish-red, the arms whitish with a broad red transverse band.

12. Purple Sunstar

starfish – Purple Sunstar – images : marlin.ac.uk

Purple Sunstar can be found in the Northern part of the North Sea, British Isles, more common along the coasts of Norway and Scotland. This species is found on muddy gravel with boulders or silty rock substrates, from shallow water down to depths of 450 m. Absent from the south coast of England, but present in Ireland.

13. Chocolate Chip Sea Star

starfish – Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Unfortunately this species is collected as a tourist trinket and for the aquarium trade and are being overharvested in some areas. Though it has few oceanic predators, it does have one serious predator, that is humans. The dark patterns are a way for it to look more dangerous, and it works as it has little predators. These sea stars actually provide a home on its surface for other species such as tiny brittle stars, shrimp, and juvenile filefish.

14. Nine Armed Sea Star

starfish – Nine Armed Sea Star

It may not be the only sea star to have nine arms. This starfish, like many species, everts its stomach to engulf its prey, and essentially “swallows” with its stomach. Nine Armed Sea Star is the only species to be named for the fact that it has nine arms. It can be found in the western Atlantic Ocean. The nine-arm sea star favorite preys are mollusks, small crustaceans, and sea worms.

15. Royal Starfish

starfish – Royal Starfish – images : en.wikipedia.org

Unlike many other species of starfish, the royal starfish eats its prey whole. This vividly colored species is found along the east coast of North America, primarily in the southeast. While it can live at depths of up to 700 feet, it mostly hangs out at around 70-100 feet deep where it dines on mollusks.