Many-pored seastar

Fromia polypora

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth5–10 m
Water temperature14–26 °C
Best monthsMarch, June, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Fromia polypora, commonly called many-pored sea star or many-spotted seastar, is a species of marine starfish belonging to the family Goniasteridae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Fromia polypora”, 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: 84 records
February: 64 records
March: 104 records
April: 56 records
May: 72 records
June: 124 records
July: 22 records
August: 44 records
September: 30 records
October: 54 records
November: 90 records
December: 68 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–10 m · Deepest record: 70 m

0–10 m: 137 records
10–20 m: 53 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–26 °C

12–14 °C: 8 records
14–16 °C: 355 records
16–18 °C: 9 records
18–20 °C: 18 records
20–22 °C: 26 records
22–24 °C: 21 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ttsquid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Many-pored seastar, Many-spotted Sea Star

Other scientific names: Austrofromia polypora

Similar species

Blocked Sea Star
Fromia indica
Red Sea Star
Fromia milleporella
Peppermint Sea Star
Fromia monilis
Fromia hadracantha
Heffernan's Sea Star
Fromia heffernani
Armored Sea Star
Fromia hemiopla

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).
657 open-data records from 1873 to 2014.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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