DiscoverSpeciesOther invertebrates
Aquilonastra burtoni
- Usual depth1–18 m
- Water temperature19–29 °C
- Best monthsMarch, May, and October
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Анна Митрошенкова, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Aquilonastra burtoni is a species of small sea star from the family Asterinidae from the Red Sea which has colonised the eastern Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal, although the Mediterranean populations are clonal reproducing through fissiparous asexual reproduction. It was originally described in 1840 by the English zoologist and philatelist John Edward Gray.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aquilonastra burtoni”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 8 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 12 records
- April: 7 records
- May: 10 records
- June: 3 records
- July: 7 records
- August: 2 records
- September: 5 records
- October: 11 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 2 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 67 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
Names in 1 more languages
- Simplified Chinese
- 伯頓海燕
Other scientific names: Asterina burtoni, Asterina wega, Asteriscus wega
Similar species
- Seven-armed Coral Star
Aquilonastra anomala
- Crown reef star
Aquilonastra coronata
- Loriol's sea star
Aquilonastra lorioli
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 128 open-data records from 1840 to 2021.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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