Anseropoda placenta | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Echinodermata |
Class: | Asteroidea |
Order: | Valvatida |
Family: | Asterinidae |
Genus: | Anseropoda |
Species: | A. placenta
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Binomial name | |
Anseropoda placenta
Pennant, 1777
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Synonyms [1] | |
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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]