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
Crown-of-thorns starfish damage includes a major section of the disk together with arms, the number of arms regenerating on the disk may be less than the number lost. Another hypothesis is the "aggregation hypothesis", whereby large aggregations of "A. planci" appear as apparent outbreaks because they have consumed all the adjacent coral. This seems to imply that there is apparently a dense population outbreak when there has already been a more diffuse population outbreak that has been dense enough to comprehensively prey on large areas of hard coral. Female crown-of-thorns starfish are very fecund. Based on the eggs in ovaries, 200, 300