Biodiversity & Conservation

Bloody Henry starfish - Henricia oculata - General information

Henricia oculata

Image Keith Hiscock - Henricia oculata. Image width ca 30 cm.
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Distribution map

Henricia oculata recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Henricia oculata is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Angus Jackson Text page icon Refereed by: Dr A.C. Campbell

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 All round Ireland except perhaps for the east coast. South-east England round to the west coast northwards to northern Scotland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on a variety of substrata on open coasts.
Text page icon Description A stiff rigid starfish with a sandpapery texture to the dorsal surface. This species comes in a wide variety of colour forms, reds, browns, purples and yellows. Sometimes the disc and inner portions of the arms is much darker than the outer part of the arms, as though the animal has been splashed with paint. The dorsal spinelets are more opaque and irregular than in Henricia sanguinolenta.

This review can be cited as follows:

Angus Jackson 2008. Henricia oculata. Bloody Henry starfish. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 25/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3479>