Starfish Starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or "basket stars". About 1,500 species of starfish occur on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from the tropics to frigid polar waters. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, below the surface. Starfish are marine invertebrates. They typically have a central disc and five arms, though some species have a larger number of arms. The aboral or upper surface may be smooth,
Kina (animal) can be entirely eaten away, leaving bare rocks, also known as Kina Barrens. Larval stages can feed on different species of unicellular algae in a size range between 5 and 50 µm (MacEdward and Miner 2007). Molluscs such as the cymatiid gastropods "Charonia capax" and "C. rudicunda", starfish, and benthic feeding fishes can feed on individuals of "E. chloroticus" (Dix 1970a). The most important predators are the eleven-armed sea star, "Coscinasterias calamaria", the seven-armed prickly starfish, "Astrostole scabra", and the spiny lobster, "Jasus edwardsii" (Andrew and MacDiarmid 1991, Barker 2007). "Evechinus chloroticus" has an annual breeding cycle (Dix 1970b). It