(Linnaeus, 1758)

Spiny Starfish

Description
Body with a small disc and 5 R/r: 5-9; up to 350 mm in diameter (occasionally up to 700 mm); coloured yellowish, orange, reddish, brownish or greenish.

Dorsal side
The spines along the mid-dorsal line of the arms and on the marginal plates are very conspicuous and form regular longitudinal series (the upper marginals with 1, the lower marginals with 2 spines), giving the arms an angular appearance (M. glacialis test).

Pedicellariae
The ambulacral spines are in a very regular single row, and have no pedicellariae.

Habitat
Found in a wide range of habitats from fully exposed rockfaces to muddy sites in calm bays. Remarkable size differences are commonly found. Spiny starfish from sheltered waters are larger than those of exposed coasts.

Distribution
Particularly in the northern parts of the North Sea, Scandinavia. Elsewhere it is found on the western British coasts.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Asteroidea
Order Forcipulata
Family Asteriidae
Genus Marthasterias
Species glacialis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Marthasterias glacialis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Asterias glacialis Linneaus, 1758
Asterias spinosa Pennant, 1777
Asterias angulosa O.F. Müller, 1788
Asterias echinophora Delle Chiaje, 1827
Stellonia webbiana d'Orbigny, 1839
Asteracanthion africanus J. Müller & Troschel, 1842
Asterias madeirensis Stimpson, 1862
Asterias rarispina Perrier, 1875
Marthasterias foliacea Jullien, 1878

Vernacular name
Spiny Starfish (English)

Mortensen, T.H., 1927. Handbook of the Echinoderms of the British Isles. Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press: 471 pp.

Moyse, J. & P.A. Tyler, 1990. Echinodermata. In: P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland (eds): The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North- West Europe, Volume 2, Molluscs to Chordates. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 839-871.

Picton, B.E., 1993. A field guide to the shallow-water Echinoderms of the British Isles. Immel Publishing: 96 pp.

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