Anasterias rupicola
Anasterias rupicola | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Forcipulatida |
Family: | Asteriidae |
Genus: | Anasterias |
Species: | A. rupicola
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Binomial name | |
Anasterias rupicola | |
Synonyms | |
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Anasterias rupicola is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Southern Ocean and sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
Description
Anasterias rupicola is a robust, short-limbed starfish. It is a very slow-growing species and is believed to take about 39 years to reach its maximum size of 11 centimetres (4.3 in).[2] The aboral or upper surface is ivory white and covered with blunt tubercles in radially arranged rows. The edges of the arms are fringed with short spines. The oral or under surface has the mouth in the centre and several rows of tube feet running down each ray on either side of the brownish ambulacral groove.[3]
Distribution and habitat
Anasterias rupicola is found in the shallow, cold waters on the coasts of various sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean including the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands and Prince Edward Islands. It occurs just below low tide mark and to a depth of about 5 metres (16 ft) and favours horizontal ledges in sheltered rocky locations, the underside of boulders and horizontal cracks.[2]
Reproduction
The sexes are separate in Anasterias rupicola and the females brood their young. Reproduction probably does not take place annually as, in a study in the summer of 1980, only 30 brooding individuals were collected out of a total of 1400 females. Up to 350 well-yolked
Ecology
Anasterias rupicola is a
In the Prince Edward Islands, Anasterias rupicola is the dominant invertebrate predator but it is itself sometimes eaten by seabirds such as the lesser sheathbill (Chionis minor) and the kelp gull (Larus dominicanus).[2]
On the sub-Arctic
References
- ^ Mah, Christopher (2010). Mah CL (ed.). "Anasterias rupicola (Verrill, 1876)". World Asteroidea database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
- ^ .
- ^ "Anasterias rupicola". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
- ^ .