Luidia sarsii

Luidia sarsii
Larval stage
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Asteroidea
Order:	Paxillosida
Family:	Luidiidae
Genus:	Luidia
Species:	L. sarsii
Binomial name
Luidia sarsii Düben & Koren, 1846

Luidia sarsii is a species of starfish. Sand colored with a velvety texture, the species expresses pentamerism or pentaradial symmetry as adults. The five gently tapering arms have conspicuous bands of long white marginal spines in groups of three. Luidia sarsi grow to approximately 20 cm across and are found in deeper water (20 m+) from Norway to the Mediterranean but in deep colder water in the south. They are usually found on muddy sediment and are most active at night, burying themselves under the sand during the day. Luidia sarsii larva develop from a fertilized egg and are unique in a number of respects. The larva of the species attains an unusual size (up to 35 mm^[1]) and a juvenile starfish develops inside the larva. During metamorphosis the juvenile migrates to the outside and detaches from the swimming larval bipinnaria stage. The larva continues to live separately for several months.^[2]

Further reading

• Domanski, P. A. (1984). "GIANT LARVAE PROLONGED PLANKTONIC LARVAL PHASE IN THE ASTEROID LUIDIA-SARSI". Marine Biology (Berlin). 80 (2): 189–196. doi:10.1007/BF02180186.
• Doxa, Chrisa K.; Kentouri, Maroudio; Divanach, Pascal (2 December 2012). "Feeding of Charonia Seguenza (Aradas & Benoit, 1870) on Natural Prey and Alternative Foods". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 79 (Part 1): 76–78. doi:10.1093/mollus/eys029. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
• Mifsud, C.; Taviani, M.; Stohr, S. (Dec 2009). "Remarks on Echinodermata from the South Central Mediterranean Sea based upon collections made during the MARCOS cruise". Mediterranean Marine Science. 10: 63–71. doi:10.12681/mms.109.
• Sumida, Paulo Y. G.; Tyler, Paul A.; Billett, Davis S. M. (January 2001). "Early juvenile development of deep-sea asteroids of the NE Atlantic Ocean, with notes on juvenile bathymetric distributions". Acta Zoologica. 82 (1): 11–40. doi:10.1046/j.1463-6395.2001.00058.x.
• Wilson, Douglas P (May 1978). "Some Observations on Bipinnariae and Juveniles of the Starfish Genus Luidia". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 58 (02): 467–478. doi:10.1017/S0025315400028125.

References