Seven armed sea star

Scientific name : Luidia maculata

Sea star with 7-9 arms. Flattened shape, marginal spines. brown-reddish mottled. 20 cm diameter.
Living on sandy bottoms, in bay, lagoon or in the deep reef. Active at night.
It could be confused with Astropecten species due to the shape, the marginal spines and the environment. It is distinguished by the number of arms, always higher than 5. A very similar species, Luidia magnifica, has 9-10 arms.

Associated organisms
We found on this sea star the crab Lissocarcinus sp., and parasitic eulimid gastropods.