Coscinasterias calamaria

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–51 m
Water temperature11–25 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Georgina Jones · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Coscinasterias calamaria, or the eleven-armed sea star, is a starfish in the family Asteriidae. It was thought to be endemic to southern Australia and New Zealand but has since been documented as occurring in the Cape Peninsula as well. It is found around low tide levels and deeper, under rocks and wandering over seaweed in pools.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Coscinasterias calamaria”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 20 records
February: 24 records
March: 22 records
April: 20 records
May: 14 records
June: 9 records
July: 10 records
August: 3 records
September: 6 records
October: 11 records
November: 24 records
December: 17 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–51 m · Deepest record: 155.5 m

0–10 m: 33 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–25 °C

10–12 °C: 17 records
12–14 °C: 36 records
14–16 °C: 107 records
16–18 °C: 37 records
18–20 °C: 5 records
20–22 °C: 93 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 3 records

Photos

Names and classification

Other scientific names: Asteracanthion calamaria, Asteracanthion jehennesi, Asterias (Stolasterias) calamaria, Asterias calamaria, Asterias jehennesi, Coscinasterias (Stolasterias) calamaria, Coscinasterias jehennesi, Stolasterias calamaria

Similar species

Eleven-armed seastar
Coscinasterias muricata
Coscinasterias acutispina
Flat-bottomed star
Asterias amurensis
Seven-armed Sea Star
Astrostole scabra
Island Sea Star
Astrostole rodolphi
Anasterias mawsoni

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).
372 open-data records from 1891 to 2010.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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