Striated Sea Star

A small, secretive star to about 10 cm (4 in) with short broad arms and an upper surface whose plates line up in clear radiating rows - the striations behind the name. Color is orange through reddish brown, and the animal is stiffer and flatter than its size suggests.

It lives deep inside crevices and under coral from about 3 m to 30 m (10 to 100 ft), and that habit is why almost nobody sees it: this is a star that spends its life in the spaces divers cannot look into, emerging only at night and rarely far from cover. It carries pedicellariae - tiny pincer-like structures scattered over the body that snap shut on anything small that touches them, keeping the surface clear of settling larvae and parasites. Most stars have them, but in this genus they are unusually well developed. Records from this coast are few enough that a photograph with a date and depth attached has real value.