Can anyone identify this Starfish?
- Thread starter Cat276330
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
chrpai
Contributor
I don't see any photos.
I'm guessing it's the one seen here: unknown starfish « oceanbound's adventures
EastEndDiver
Contributor
If it is the hat Cave Diver posted I would say ;
Blunt Armed Sea Star (Asterina folium)
Or
Cushion Sea
Blunt Armed Sea Star (Asterina folium)
Or
Cushion Sea
To me, based on the margins of the arms, it looks like a biscuit star, perhaps Tosia sp.
oceanbound
Contributor
well, thank you OP for posting this. I'll do better since I took the picture
I'll post it. According to my log it was taken on the YDT 14 on June 5, 2011. As it was near where we anchored I will say it was seen at about 70 feet. I took the photo right when I started to go up the line. Actually I had forgot about the photo until a few months ago when I was going back over some older ones. Until someone can actually figure out what it is then I'm going with A.pinkmonalisa :blinking:
I am honored that someone actually read my blog enough to notice that photo. Thank you
I'll post it. According to my log it was taken on the YDT 14 on June 5, 2011. As it was near where we anchored I will say it was seen at about 70 feet. I took the photo right when I started to go up the line. Actually I had forgot about the photo until a few months ago when I was going back over some older ones. Until someone can actually figure out what it is then I'm going with A.pinkmonalisa :blinking:I am honored that someone actually read my blog enough to notice that photo. Thank you
From the area, water depth, size, colour, and basic morphology, my guess is Goniaster tessalatus. I have never seen a Tosia specimen at that size nor with that much spine covering. If it's Goniaster you caught it a bit shallower than it normally occurs. It usually prefers to be over a hundred feet deep, but its well known that all kinds of crazy behavior occurs with Gulf of Mexico species in the presence of manmade structures. Ha.
The image is good enough for me to try and key the thing out, but my museum photo records of G. tesselatus match that sucker pretty spot on.
The image is good enough for me to try and key the thing out, but my museum photo records of G. tesselatus match that sucker pretty spot on.
oceanbound
Contributor
Thanks! I do believe that may be it. it comes closer to anything else i've seen. In fact, I researched a little and came up with this page WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Goniaster tessellatus (de Lamarck, 1816) which has one that looks just like it. A little disappointing though. I really did like the "pink monalisa" name lol
I would not be too disappointed. You saw a deepwater starfish. Most scientists rarely get to see them live at all... we're stuck with dried out or pickled things that are bleached white or tan. We don't even have common names for the vast majority of them.
If I spotted that starfish while diving, I would have blown my camera battery just on that one thing, *then* grabbed the specimen and taken it to the surface (for buttloads of more photographing), *then* dumped it in an aquarium, and if it died on me, stuck it in a jar of ethanol.
So I guess it's lucky it found you...
If I spotted that starfish while diving, I would have blown my camera battery just on that one thing, *then* grabbed the specimen and taken it to the surface (for buttloads of more photographing), *then* dumped it in an aquarium, and if it died on me, stuck it in a jar of ethanol.
So I guess it's lucky it found you...
Similar threads
