Class Asteroidea

Order Forcipulatida

Family Asteriidae

 

RAINBOW STAR

Orthasterias koehleri (deLoriol, 1897)

Identification:

5 very long tapering arms. Small central disc. Cream banded with red. Spines white or purple with dense wreaths of tiny pincers surrounding them. To 60 cm (24 in) across.

Range:

Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to southern California; intertidal to 283 m (928 ft).

Notes:

On soft bottoms, specializes in eating the thick-shelled clam KENNERLEY'S VENUS Humilaria kennerleyi. On rocky bottoms it eats green false-jingles, tunicates, lampshells and chitons.