Luzon seastar

Echinaster luzonicus

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–52 m
Water temperature11–30 °C
Best monthsMay, October, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Echinaster luzonicus, the Luzon sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Echinasteridae, found in shallow parts of the western Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes lives symbiotically with a copepod or a comb jelly, and is prone to shed its arms, which then regenerate into new individuals.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Echinaster luzonicus”, 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: 150 records
February: 135 records
March: 161 records
April: 191 records
May: 246 records
June: 234 records
July: 235 records
August: 206 records
September: 221 records
October: 251 records
November: 242 records
December: 185 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–52 m · Deepest record: 255 m

0–10 m: 100 records
10–20 m: 37 records
20–30 m: 7 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 9 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–30 °C

10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 49 records
26–28 °C: 23 records
28–30 °C: 74 records

Photos

(c) ig: underwater.logs, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jay Paroline, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Luzon seastar

Names in 4 more languages

French: Étoile de mer de Luzon
Japanese: ルソンヒトデ
Thai: ดาวแดงหกแฉก
Simplified Chinese: 呂宋棘海星

Other scientific names: Echinaster affinis, Echinaster eridanella, Echinaster multipapillatus, Henricia multipapillata, Othilia eridanella, Othilia luzonica

Similar species

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).
736 open-data records from 1840 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist