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 hypotheses focused on changes in the survival of juvenile and adult starfish - the "predator removal hypothesis": Many of the reports of fish preying on "Acanthaster" are single observations or presumed predation from the nature of the fish. For example, the humphead wrasse may prey on the starfish amongst its more usual diet. Individual puffer fish and trigger-fish have been observed to feed crown-of-thorns starfish in the Red Sea, but there is no evidence that they are a significant factor in population control. A study, however, based on the stomach contents of large carnivorous fish that are potential predators of