Bat star Bat star The bat star ("Patiria miniata"), also known as a sea bat, webbed star, and broad-disk star, is a species of sea star (also called a starfish) in the family Asterinidae. It typically has five arms, with the center disk of the animal being much wider than the stubby arms are in length. Although the bat star usually has five arms, it sometimes has as many as nine. Bat stars occur in many of colors, including green, purple, red, orange, yellow and brown, either mottled or solid. The bat star gets its name from the webbing between its arms,
Crown-of-thorns starfish ward off the starfish as it seeks to spread its stomach over the coral surface. In reef areas of low densities of hard coral, reflecting the nature of the reef community or due to feeding by high density crown-of-thorns, the starfish may be found feeding on soft corals (Alcyonacea). The starfish are cryptic in behavior during their first two years, emerging at night to feed. They usually remain so as adults when solitary. The only evidence of a hidden individual may be white feeding scars on adjacent coral. However, their behavior changes under two circumstances: The elongated sharp spines covering