Animal profile

Common Starfish

Asterias rubens

AsteroideaRocky shores and shallow seabeds of the north-east Atlantic

Field profile

A five-armed orange to brown sea star, typically ten to thirty centimetres across, abundant on European coasts. It preys chiefly on bivalves such as mussels. It is one of the most familiar intertidal invertebrates in northern Europe.

Published field notes

2024-11-01

Common Starfish

The common starfish opens mussels by outlasting them

It does not prise a mussel apart in one pull. It grips both shell halves with hundreds of tube feet and holds a steady tension until the bivalve's own adductor muscle fatigues and the gap widens by a fraction of a millimetre.

Read with evidence →