Biodiversity & Conservation

Common starfish - Asterias rubens - General information

Asterias rubens

Image Sue Scott - Common starfish Asterias rubens. A damaged small individual regrowing its arms is in the foreground. Image width ca 40 cm.
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Distribution map

Asterias rubens recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Asterias rubens?
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Asterias rubens is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Georgina Budd Text page icon Refereed by: Prof. David Nichols

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Echinodermata Starfish, brittlestars, sea urchins & sea cucumbers
Class Stelleroidea Starfish, sea stars, cushion stars and brittlestars
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Found on all British and Irish coasts, especially amongst beds of mussels and barnacles.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Asterias rubens occurs in varying abundance upon a variety of substrata that include coarse and shelly gravel and rock. Reported abundances vary between 2-31 Asterias rubens per m² on fine sand and 324-809 specimens on algal carpets (Anger et al., 1977).
Text page icon Description Asterias rubens is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic region. Asterias rubens may grow up to 52 cm in diameter, but commonly 10-30 cm. Asterias rubens is variable in colour, though usually orange, pale brown or violet. Deep-water specimens are pale. It has five tapering arms, broad at the base that are often slightly turned up at the tip when active.

This review can be cited as follows:

Georgina Budd 2008. Asterias rubens. Common starfish. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 20/06/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2657>