Patiriella calcar

Taxobox
name = "Patiriella calcar"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Echinodermata
subphylum = Eleutherozoa
classis = Asteroidea
ordo = Spinulosida
subordo = Leptognathina
familia = Asterinidae
genus = "Patiriella"
species = "Patiriella calcar"
species_authority = Lamarck, 1816

"Patiriella calcar" is the scientific name of the Australian Carpet Sea Star, also know as Cushion Sea Star or Eight-armed Sea Star, a species of asteroidean echinoderm.

Physical description

The Cushion Sea Star has eight short, distinct, triangular "arms", though 7- or 9-armed individuals can be found. These "arms" are laterally fused together for some of their length, leaving ray-like tips of varying length to jut from the disk-like body. This species aboral surface can be any colour or combination of colours, while the oral side is uniformly pale. This sea star attains a maximum diameter from arm tip to arm tip of 10 cm.

Habitat and range

The Cushion Sea Star is found in the intertidal zone of Australian coasts from Western Australia's south coast to Queensland's coast off Currumbin, while including Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. This sea star species favours rocky coasts abiding both in tide pools and to a maximum depth of 3 meters below sea level.

Ecology and behaviour

Like other sea stars, the Cushion Sea Star is a slow-moving animal using its tube feet to move about, collecting or subduing the food items that constitute this omnivorous species diet, namely, algae, detritus, mussels and other invertebrates. This species is viviparous like a few others classified in the genus "Patiriella", brooding its young within the body.

References

* [http://www.woodbridge.tased.edu.au/mdc/Species%20Register/class_asteriodea.htm Sea stars - Class Asteriodea] ["sic"] . Retrieved 2008-01-29.
* Keith Davey. [http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/p_calcar.html Life on Australian Seashores - Eight-armed Seastar "Patiriella calcar"] .
* Australian Museum Online. [http://www.faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=112 Wildlife of Sydney - Fact File - Carpet Sea Star] . Retrieved 2008-01-29.