Panamic Cushion Star

About this species

Pentaceraster cumingi, sometimes known as the Panamic cushion star, Cortez starfish or knobby star, is a species of starfish in the family Oreasteridae. It is found in warmer parts of the East Pacific and in Hawaii. In Panama this species has been collected from the Pearl Islands, Gulf of Panama, and off Coiba Island, Gulf of Chiriqui. It reaches a diameter of about 30 cm (12 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pentaceraster cumingi”, 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: 139 records
February: 130 records
March: 146 records
April: 167 records
May: 199 records
June: 131 records
July: 182 records
August: 164 records
September: 87 records
October: 151 records
November: 98 records
December: 127 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 8–100 m · Deepest record: 106.5 m

0–10 m: 17 records
10–20 m: 27 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–27 °C

24–26 °C: 29 records
26–28 °C: 3 records

Photos

(c) Juan Carlos Pérez Magaña, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Bill Levine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John G. Phillips, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Panamic Cushion Star

Names in 3 more languages

German: Panamaischer Noppenseestern
Spanish: Estrella cojín, Estrella de mar cojín, Estrella Panámica de Colchón
Simplified Chinese: 紅海星

Other scientific names: Oreaster hawaiiensis, Oreaster occidentalis, Pentaceros cumingi, Pentaceros hawaiiensis, Pentaceros occidentalis

Similar species

Pentaceraster gracilis
Beaded Starfish
Pentaceraster mammillatus
Pentaceraster regulus
Neighbouring Five-horned Star
Pentaceraster affinis
Cushion sea star
Pentaceraster alveolatus
Grainy Cushion Star
Choriaster granulatus

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).
523 open-data records from 1888 to 2023.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.