Species Profile
Asterias
Common starfish
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumEchinodermata
ClassAsteroidea
OrderUnknown
FamilyUnknown
Introduction
Asterias lives in shallow marine waters.
It is slow-moving and carnivorous.
It controls molluscan populations.
Size & Structure
01
Medium-sized star-shaped body
02
Five broad arms
03
Rough surface with spines
04
Orange, brown, or reddish colour
Asterias — 3D Model
General Features
- Coelom
- True coelom, reduced
- Body plan
- Tube within a tube body plan, Deuterostomous
- Germ layer
- Triploblastic
- Metamerism
- Absent
- Body symmetry
- Radial (pentaradial adult, bilateral larva)
- Fertilization
- External
- Digestion type
- Incomplete, extracellular
- Nervous system
- Nerve ring with radial nerves
- Excretory organ
- Absent
- Body temperature
- Poikilothermic, stenohaline
- Circulatory type
- Type-I (absent)
- Development type
- Indirect
- Respiratory type
- Dermal branchiae and tube feet
- Mode of excretion
- Ammonotelism
- Circulation system
- Water vascular (ambulacral) system
- Skeleton structure
- Endoskeleton (calcareous ossicles)
- Level of Organisation
- Organ-system level
- Regulation of Osmosis
- Osmoconformer
Ecology
Predator of bivalves
Regulates benthic populations
Important marine food-chain link
Economic Importance
Standard laboratory specimen
Regeneration studies
Indicator of marine health