OCHRE STARFISH
· Also known as Pisaster Ochraceus, Purple Sea Star or Ochre Sea Star.
· Have 5 rays that extend between 4-10 inches long.
· Most are purple, but can be orange, yellow, reddish or brown.
· They are dioecious, but there is no sexual dimorphism and sexes can only be separated by the presence of eggs or sperm in the gonads. The color does not indicate if they are male or female, as they can be either.
· After spawning, there is no parental involvement.
· Life duration spans from 4-20 years.
· When this species is present, it means there is a healthy and diverse intertidal community.
· They feed on plankton, mussels, chitons, limpets, snails, barnacles, echinoids, and decapod crustacean. To eat, they use their tube feet to handle their prey. If the prey is too large to swallow whole, then it can use its tube feet to open shells. It can evert its stomach through its mouth and engulf its prey, liquefy it with its digestive enzymes and ingest the processed food.
· They can tolerate a loss of up to 30% of its body weight in body fluids.
· Habitat includes mussel beds and wave-washed rocky shores. Juveniles are often found in crevices and under rocks. Its depth range is from above the low-tide zone to almost 300 feet in depth.
· Have 5 rays that extend between 4-10 inches long.
· Most are purple, but can be orange, yellow, reddish or brown.
· They are dioecious, but there is no sexual dimorphism and sexes can only be separated by the presence of eggs or sperm in the gonads. The color does not indicate if they are male or female, as they can be either.
· After spawning, there is no parental involvement.
· Life duration spans from 4-20 years.
· When this species is present, it means there is a healthy and diverse intertidal community.
· They feed on plankton, mussels, chitons, limpets, snails, barnacles, echinoids, and decapod crustacean. To eat, they use their tube feet to handle their prey. If the prey is too large to swallow whole, then it can use its tube feet to open shells. It can evert its stomach through its mouth and engulf its prey, liquefy it with its digestive enzymes and ingest the processed food.
· They can tolerate a loss of up to 30% of its body weight in body fluids.
· Habitat includes mussel beds and wave-washed rocky shores. Juveniles are often found in crevices and under rocks. Its depth range is from above the low-tide zone to almost 300 feet in depth.