Class Asteroidea

Order Valvatida

Family Goniasteridae

VERMILION STAR

Mediaster aequalis Stimpson, 1857

Identification:

 5 well-defined arms (rarely, 4 or 6 armed specimens) with a flat disc. Aboral side vermilion red and covered with tightly packed flat-topped plates bearing tiny granules. To 20 cm (8 in) across.

Range:

Northern Alaska to southern California; intertidal to 500 m (1,650 ft).

Notes:

Common. Eats a wide variety of living prey such as sponges, brachiopods, worms, bryozoans, tunicates and orange sea pens. It also scavenges dead animals and consumes detritus.