Grainy Sea Star

Ophidiaster granifer

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–31 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and December
How commonRare

About this species

Ophidiaster granifer, the grained seastar, is a species of starfish in the family Ophidiasteridae. It is found in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific and is the only known species of starfish to reproduce by parthenogenesis.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ophidiaster granifer”, 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: 0 records
February: 1 records
March: 2 records
April: 9 records
May: 9 records
June: 16 records
July: 12 records
August: 11 records
September: 10 records
October: 7 records
November: 10 records
December: 16 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–31 m · Deepest record: 123 m

0–10 m: 22 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 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 22–30 °C

22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 36 records
26–28 °C: 31 records
28–30 °C: 59 records

Names and classification

English: Grainy Sea Star

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: アマゾネスホウキボシ
Simplified Chinese: 顆粒蛇海星

Other scientific names: Ophidiaster trychnus

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).
216 open-data records from 1908 to 2022.

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