Anseropoda placenta, also called the goose foot starfish,[2] is a species of sea star in the family Asterinidae.[3]
Anseropoda placenta is up to 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter. It's a very thin, leaflike, flat sea star with short webbed arms. Its specific name placenta refers to a kind of flat cake. The aboral surface (top) has a texture of small plates; it is white with five radiating red lines, one down the centre of each arm.[4]
Most common in the Irish Sea and English Channel, and is more rarely found off Scotland.[5] It is in rapid decline in Northern Ireland due to bottom fishing.[6]
Anseropoda placenta is sublittoral, typically living at 20–40 m (66–131 ft) depth, in muddy sand or muddy gravel; it has been found as deep as 500 m (1,600 ft).[4][7]
Anseropoda placenta produces large eggs in the summer.[5] It feeds on benthic molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms.[7]
Aboral (upper) surface
Oral surface (underside)
Illustration
Depicted on an Albanian stamp
Anseropoda placenta, also called the goose foot starfish, is a species of sea star in the family Asterinidae.
