Common cushion star

About this species

Patiriella regularis, the New Zealand common cushion star, or, in Māori, kapu parahua, is a sea star native to New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's most common rocky shore starfish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Patiriella regularis”, 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: 476 records
February: 375 records
March: 389 records
April: 566 records
May: 396 records
June: 244 records
July: 337 records
August: 253 records
September: 278 records
October: 270 records
November: 284 records
December: 322 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–43 m · Deepest record: 340 m

0–10 m: 97 records
10–20 m: 26 records
20–30 m: 18 records
30–40 m: 9 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–18 °C

10–12 °C: 6 records
12–14 °C: 29 records
14–16 °C: 8 records
16–18 °C: 19 records

Photos

(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Saryu Mae 前朝琉 · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Javier · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) William Harland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by William Harland · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Mark Anderson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Stephens, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Common cushion star, New Zealand Common Cushion Star

Other scientific names: Asterina cabbalistica, Asterina novaezelandiae, Asterina regularis, Patiria novaezelandiae, Patiriella mimica

Similar species

Derwent River sea star
Patiriella littoralis
Carpet Sea Star
Meridiastra calcar
Gunn's six-armed star
Meridiastra gunnii
Dwarf Cushion Star
Parvulastra exigua
Blue bat star
Patiria pectinifera
Anseropoda rosacea

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).
1,679 open-data records from 1898 to 2025.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.