Eight-armed Luidia

Luidia maculata

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth16–88 m
Water temperature17–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary
How commonOccasional

About this species

Luidia maculata is a species of starfish in the family Luidiidae in the order Paxillosida. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. It is commonly known as the eight-armed sea star because, although the number of arms varies from five to nine, eight arms seems to be the most common.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Luidia maculata”, 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: 0 records
February: 26 records
March: 6 records
April: 6 records
May: 15 records
June: 12 records
July: 6 records
August: 5 records
September: 0 records
October: 3 records
November: 3 records
December: 4 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 16–88 m · Deepest record: 155.5 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 8 records
20–30 m: 15 records
30–40 m: 13 records
40–50 m: 11 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 5 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 4 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–30 °C

16–18 °C: 35 records
18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 12 records
26–28 °C: 22 records
28–30 °C: 38 records

Names and classification

English: Eight-armed Luidia, Speckled Sandstar

Names in 5 more languages

French: Luidia tachetée
Japanese: ヤツデスナヒトデ
Korean: 반점검은띠불가사리
Thai: ดาวแสงอาทิตย์
Simplified Chinese: 斑砂海星

Other scientific names: Luidia varia

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).
362 open-data records from 1810 to 2023.

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