Common starfish Common starfish The common starfish or common sea star ("Asterias rubens") is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens (up to 52 cm across) are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brown, and sometimes violet; deep-water specimens are pale. The common starfish is to be found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on molluscs and other benthic invertebrates. The common starfish normally has five arms, broad at their base and gradually tapering to
Asexual reproduction in starfish generate new individuals in this way. He thought the arms might be shed by autotomy. In the same year, Monks showed experimentally that the "comets" developing from the severed arms of "Linckia columbiae" could indeed grow into new individuals. "Linckia multifora" and "Linckia guildingi" are two species of starfish found on Hawaii which were found to exhibit autotomy, shedding one or more arms frequently. The arms are known as "comets" and can move about independently and each one can grow into a new individual. Though severed from the nervous system and the water vascular system they still exhibit normal behaviour