This photo taken by Andrew McCurdy in August 2010 is from West Race Rocks around 40ft depth. It is not a very common sea star out there..

From Wikipedia: The velcro star feeds on invertebrates such as gastropod molluscs and chitons. When alert to movement in the water nearby, the rings of pedicellariae are extended, ready for action. If anything touches its aboral (upper) surface, the starfish reacts by snapping shut the pedicellariae in the vicinity of the stimulus. By this means it can catch prey items such as small fish.^[3] The victim is passed to the mouth by movements of the arms and by actions of the tube feet. The velcro star can also defend itself against attack by predators such as the voracious morning sun star (Solaster dawsoni).^[3] To fight back, it coils its arms around the attacker and inflicts thousands of nips with its pedicellariae. The attacker often retreats and the velcro star escapes.^[3]

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Asteroidea
Order Forcipulatida
Family Curculionoidea
Genus Stylasterias
Species forreri ( de Loriol, 1887)
Common Name: Fish-eating star or Velc

Other Members of the Phylum Echinodermata at Race Rocks

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File

The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. — Andrew McCurdy 2010