The Common starfish is highly common in UK seas, found in rockpools and out at sea to depths of at least 600m. Despite their older common name, they are not fishes. About 1,500 species of starfish occur on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from the tropics to frigid polar waters. And yes, they actually do move, just slowly. Phylum: Echinodermata . All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License; all unstructured text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.

Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Description, classification, synonyms, distribution map and images of Asterias rubens - Common Starfish Common Starfish Description Body with small disc and 5 rather short, broad and tapering arms (occasionally, specimens are found with 4, 6 or even 7-8 arms); R/r: mostly 4,5 (exceptionally 3,5-7), up to 520 mm in diameter (but usually smaller). Kingdom: Animalia. Starfish are animals. Taxonomy. 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". Starfish are also known as Asteroids due to being in the class Asteroidea. Sea star, any marine invertebrate of the class Asteroidea (phylum Echinodermata) having rays, or arms, surrounding an indistinct central disk. This page was last edited on 17 December 2018, at 21:36. Often coloured orange, but may vary between pale brown to violet.

They are active predators, feasting on bivalves such as mussels and clams. The roughly 1,600 living species of sea stars occur in all oceans; the northern Pacific has the Echinodermata means "spiny skin," and one of the characteristics of echinoderms is the presence of calcareous ossicles (essentially tiny bones) in their skin. As such, they have been known to become a bit of a pest on mussel and oyster beds! 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.