---
title: "What the sources say about the Common Starfish | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "46 claims from the Common Starfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/common-starfish-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-starfish/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Common Starfish (*Asterias rubens*)

> 46 claims from the Common Starfish profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Common Starfish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-starfish/)

## Common starfish (Asterias rubens). MarLIN, the Marine Life Information Network.

http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2657

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| pries open mussels with its suction feet, then pushes its stomach inside the shell to digest them | forcing the bivalve's shell open with its tube feet, the tips of which attach to the bivalve shell by suction. Once a tiny gap (<0.1 mm) is established between the valves of the prey species shell, the starfish everts its stomach lobes into the bivalve and commences digestion (note: tagline) |
| Rocky shores and seabeds of the north-east Atlantic, from Arctic Norway to Senegal, from the shore down to 650 m | Abundant throughout the north-east Atlantic, from Arctic Norway, along Atlantic coasts to Senegal ... Intertidal to depths of 650 m. (note: stats.habitat; depth claimed separately) |
| It lives from the shore down to depths of 650 m. | Intertidal to depths of 650 m. (note: body) |
| from the shore down to 650 m | Intertidal to depths of 650 m. (note: stats.habitat) |
| Rocky shores and seabeds | Asterias rubens occurs in varying abundance upon a variety of substrata that include coarse and shelly gravel and rock (note: stats.habitat; rock substrata plus intertidal range) |
| Molluscs, worms, other echinoderms and carrion | preys upon a wide range of living organisms and carrion that include molluscs, polychaete worms and other echinoderms (note: stats.diet) |
| Pushes its stomach into a mussel shell and digests the meal inside | the starfish everts its stomach lobes into the bivalve and commences digestion (note: stats.superpower) |
| It grips the shell with its tube feet | forcing the bivalve's shell open with its tube feet, the tips of which attach to the bivalve shell by suction |
| Once it opens a gap of less than 0.1 mm, it everts its stomach lobes into the shell | Once a tiny gap (<0.1 mm) is established between the valves of the prey species shell, the starfish everts its stomach lobes into the bivalve and commences digestion |
| Asterias rubens can regenerate an arm within 1 to 2 years. | Asterias rubens can regenerate an arm within 1-2 years |
| It is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. | Asterias rubens is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic region |
| It may grow up to 52 cm across, but 10 to 30 cm is usual. | may grow up to 52 cm in diameter, but commonly 10-30 cm |
| usually orange, pale brown or violet, and deep-water animals are pale | variable in colour, though usually orange, pale brown or violet. Deep-water specimens are pale |
| A review of its biology gives a lifespan of seven to eight years, citing a 1972 study. | According to Schafer (1972), the lifespan of Asterias rubens is seven to eight years |
| The same review lists 5 to 10 years in its table. | Life span 5-10 years |
| The species is abundant from Arctic Norway down the Atlantic coasts to Senegal, and is only found occasionally in the Mediterranean. | Abundant throughout the north-east Atlantic, from Arctic Norway, along Atlantic coasts to Senegal, and only found occasionally in the Mediterranean |
| found on all British and Irish coasts, especially among beds of mussels and barnacles | Found on all British and Irish coasts, especially amongst beds of mussels and barnacles |
| It has a well-developed sense of smell, with preferences and avoidances. | has a well-developed olfactory sense with adaptive preferences and avoidances |
| It moves into a water current, and moves harder into it when living prey such as a mussel is nearby. | demonstrates positive rheotaxis (purposeful movement of a motile organism into a water current), which is enhanced in the presence of living prey such as Mytilus edulis (note: enhanced = stronger) |
| some other seabed animals avoid it | Other species of the benthic fauna, including prey species Marthasterias glacialis , Buccinum undatum and several species of ophiuroids, demonstrate avoidance reactions in the presence of the predatory starfish Asterias rubens |
| They can detect it as it releases a surface-active saponin, a soapy chemical, from its body surface. | These species can detect Asterias rubens owing to the release of a surface-active saponin from its body surface |
| Yes. A review of the species says individuals can survive the loss of one or more arms, and that even a detached arm is likely to survive. | Although individuals can survive loss of one or more arms |
| even a detached arm is likely to survive | the remaining starfish and even detached arms are likely to survive |
| Sexes are separate and fertilization happens in open water. | Asterias rubens is dioecious. The female produces small eggs that are released into the sea and fertilized externally |
| A female of 140 mm across is estimated to spawn 2.5 million eggs | It has been estimated that a female starfish of 140 mm diameter can spawn 2.5 million eggs |
| which develop into plankton-feeding larvae | released into the sea and fertilized externally to develop as planktotrophic larvae (note: planktotrophic = plankton-feeding; FAQ ref is MarLIN) |
| It eats a wide range of living prey and carrion, including molluscs, worms and other echinoderms. | preys upon a wide range of living organisms and carrion that include molluscs, polychaete worms and other echinoderms (note: body) |
| feeds by pushing its stomach into a mussel once the gap is under 0.1 mm | Once a tiny gap (<0.1 mm) is established between the valves of the prey species shell, the starfish everts its stomach lobes into the bivalve (note: vibe.reason) |

## Asterias rubens. Animal Diversity Web.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Asterias_rubens/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A headless starfish that pries open mussels with its suction feet | has no head, but its mouth can be found on the lower, oral side of the body (note: tagline) |
| has no head and no jaws or teeth | has neither jaws nor teeth |
| has no head | has no head, but its mouth can be found on the lower, oral side of the body where the ambulacral grooves from each arm meet |
| Its mouth is on the underside, where the grooves from its five arms meet. | its mouth can be found on the lower, oral side of the body where the ambulacral grooves from each arm meet |
| five arms | has a body which consists of a central disk with five arms radiating from it |
| the starfish waits until the prey is a soft mass before it pulls its stomach back in | it must wait until the prey is digested into a soft mass before it pulls its stomach back inside of its body |
| at the end of each arm sits an eye spot | At the end of each arm an eye spot can be found which allows the starfish to sense light |
| average pace at six inches per minute in a straight line | moves at an average of six inches per minute in a straight line |
| No. Animal Diversity Web says it has no poisons or bites that could harm swimmers. | It does not have poisons or bites that could be harmful to swimmers |
| Bivalves are a prominent food source for it. | These are the prominent food source of |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List No special status (note: stats.conservationStatus; no Red List assessment found by prefetch) |
| pries open mussels | makes use of its strong arms and tube feet while preying on bivalves like mussels (note: tagline, superpower, body 'eat a mussel') |
| Then it pulls. | The arms then pull the two halves of the shell apart exposing the inside of the shell (note: body) |
| the tiny sucker-tipped feet that cover its body | Asterias rubens is covered in tube feet which help in locomotion, respiration, and with suction (note: body) |
| sucker-tipped | On the end of each of its tube feet lies a vacuum-cup sucker (note: body) |
| turning its stomach inside out | The stomach, turned inside out, goes into the gap between the shell halves (note: body gloss) |
| The meal is digested right there in the mussel. | get its stomach inside the shell and wrap it around the soft body of the prey. At this time gastric juices are expelled, allowing for the process of digestion to occur (note: body) |
| It moves at an average of six inches per minute | moves at an average of six inches per minute in a straight line (note: vibe.reason) |