Crossaster paposus

Rose Star:

Rose Star (Crossaster papposus): This pretty starfish is generally no bigger than a person's hand, and is rarely found intertidally. It is immediately identified by its pink or orange color with pale bands, fairly dramatic spines, and its eleven arms. This species is reported to eat sea pens, sea slugs, tunicates and bivalves. if you turn this starfish over, you'll also see some dramatic ambulacral spines all around the mouth. In Juneau, these starfishes were found by Richard Carlson to take about ten years to reach a "large" adult size of 30 centimeters.

The only similar starfish is the young Pycnopodia helianthoides, which is much softer, does not have dramatic ambulacral spines around the mouth, doesn't have pink as its dominant color, and does not have a circle pattern.

Local Notes

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References

Weblinks

• WoRMS page for Crossaster paposus
• Evergreen Natural History Database page for Crossaster paposus
• Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory page for Crossaster paposus

• WoRMS Page for Crossaster paposus
• Search Arctos Database for Crossaster paposus (Southeast only)
• Search Arctos Database for Crossaster paposus (entire database)
• Encyclopedia of Life search for Crossaster papposus
• iNaturalist Observations for Crossaster papposus in Southeast Alaska

Other References

• Lamb Hanby 2005
• Lambert 2000
• O'Clair O'Clair 1998

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  Rose Star (Crossaster paposus)

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  Rose Star (Crossaster paposus)

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