Six-armed Luidia
sea star
Luidia penangensis
Family Luidiidae
updated
Mar 2020
Where
seen? This
elegant sea star is seldom seen. So far, only our Northern shores at Chek Jawa and Changi. According to Lane, it was recorded from the Changi-Ubin-Tekong area.
Features: Diameter with arms to 8-10cm. Six arms. The
arms are long, with slight constriction at the base, slightly rounded, and tapered to a pointed tip, edged
with tiny spines along the sides. The upper surface of the body is
covered with special flat-topped, pillar-like structures called paxillae.
The underside is pale, and from grooves along the arms emerge large
tube feet with pointed tips, sometimes sometimes yellowish or bright
orange. The upperside is beige, greyish or pink; plain or with a darker stripe along the arms.
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Chek Jawa, Jan 09 |
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Underside.
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Pointed tube
feet. |
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| Six-armed Luidia
sea stars on Singapore shores |
| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
Changi Creek, Jan 21
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Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook. |
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Links
References
- Lane, David
J.W. and Didier Vandenspiegel. 2003. A
Guide to Sea Stars and Other Echinoderms of Singapore.
Singapore Science Centre. 187pp.
- Didier VandenSpiegel
et al. 1998. The
Asteroid fauna (Echinodermata) of Singapore with a distribution
table and illustrated identification to the species. The Raffles
Bulletin of Zoology 1998 46(2): 431-470.
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