Pincushion Cushionstar

Culcita schmideliana

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–83 m
Water temperature25–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, February, and March
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Philippe Bourjon, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Culcita schmideliana, commonly known as the spiny cushion star, is a species of pin-cushion star. It has a variety of base colors and often patches of a different color. It is pentagonal in shape and lives in the tropical Indo-Pacific. This species is rarely kept by hobby aquarists.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Culcita schmideliana”, 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: 102 records
February: 109 records
March: 119 records
April: 66 records
May: 56 records
June: 46 records
July: 73 records
August: 75 records
September: 80 records
October: 96 records
November: 70 records
December: 85 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–83 m · Deepest record: 83 m

0–10 m: 6 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C

24–26 °C: 3 records
26–28 °C: 7 records
28–30 °C: 39 records

Photos

(c) Frédéric Ducarme, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) John Hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jakkarin Burananit, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Pincushion Cushionstar, Pincushion Starfish, Spiny Cushion Star

Names in 2 more languages

German: Stachelkissenstern
French: Etoile-coussin de l'océan Indien, Étoile-coussin de l'Océan Indien

Other scientific names: Asterias discoidea, Asterias schmideliana, Goniodiscus studeri

Similar species

Cushion star
Culcita novaeguineae
Grainy Cushion Star
Choriaster granulatus
Chocolate Chip Sea Star
Protoreaster nodosus
Brick Red Sea Star
Anthaster valvulatus
Cake sea star
Anthenea aspera
Australian Cushion Star
Anthenea australiae

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).
150 open-data records from 1805 to 2020.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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