This predatory species takes a range of marine prey including other echinoderms (sea urchins, starfish and brittlestars), worms and molluscs as well as carrion (3). It often prizes bivalve shells apart, using the suckers on the tube-feet. Once a small gap has been opened, the starfish inserts the lobes of its stomach inside the shell, and starts to digest the bivalve (2). This starfish has a good sense of smell, which helps it to locate its prey and avoid predators (3). Some of its prey species are able to smell the starfish as it approaches and avoid it (3). The sexes are separate, breeding occurs in spring and summer and fertilisation occurs externally (2). The early larval stage (called a 'bipinnaria' larva) is planktonic, it transforms into a 'brachiolaria' larva before undergoing full metamorphosis and settling around 87 days after fertilisation (3). The life-span of a common starfish is between 5 and 10 years (3). Large aggregations occasionally form, of around 100 individuals per square metre (3). It is not known what triggers these aggregations (3).

 Asterias rubens is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic region. Asterias rubens may grow up to 52 cm in diameter, but commonly 10-30 cm. Asterias rubens is variable in colour, though usually orange, pale brown or violet. Deep-water specimens are pale. It has five tapering arms, broad at the base that are often slightly turned up at the tip when active.

• Asterias rubens is considered to be conspecific with Asterias vulgaris from the eastern seaboard of the United States of America and Canada (Coe, 1912).
• The size of Asterias rubens varies markedly with food availability and hence size is not necessarily a good indicator of age.

This starfish has five tapering, blunt-tipped, arms covered with small, scattered white spines. Small specimens are quite stiff but larger ones are rather soft and floppy. The white spines form a definite line down the centre of each arm. Between the spines are groups of soft transparent processes called papulae. Body colour is usually brown to pale orange, in some locations this may be masked by blue or purple. In exposed habitats up to 12cm, in more sheltered sites up to 30cm across. Leptasterias muelleri is a smaller species and can be distinguished by its firmer spinier texture and characteristic spines.

The common starfish has 5 arms (although individuals may occasionally have just 4 or as many as 6) (2). The colour varies from red to yellowish-brown and more rarely violet (2). The upper surfaces of the arms feature a row of spines along the centre, and the underside has rows of 'tube-feet', which have suckers at the tips (2).

Africa, Arctic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone, Birkenfels (shipwreck), British Isles, Calais, Cape Cod, Cape Hatteras, De Haan, Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone, Florida, French Exclusive Economic Zone [Atlantic part], Greenland, Grevelingen, Gulf of Mexico, Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone, Irish Exclusive economic Zone, Kattegat, Labrador Basin, Moroccan Exclusive Economic Zone, Newfoundland Basin, North American Basin, North East Atlantic, North Sea, North West Atlantic, Norway, Oostduinkerke, Oostende, Oosterschelde, Portugal, Rockall Trough, Saguenay Fjord, Sargasso Sea, South Carolina, Trondheim, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone, United States Exclusive Economic Zone [Atlantic part], Voordelta, West Africa, West Coast of Norway , West European Basin, Westerschelde, White Sea, Wimereux, Yucatan

The Asterias rubens settles in the Northern Atlantic region on rocky, temperate shores. Most sea stars, including the Asterias rubens, may live in a variety of depths, including shallow shores to up to 200 fathoms. (Pearse, et al 1987; Bullough 1950)

Biogeographic Regions: atlantic ocean (Native )

Lower shore to more than 200 m depth, on rock gravel and sand; very common all round the British Isles

Labrador to Cape Hatteras

Not recorded for Mediterranean

Widespread all around the British Isles.

Common and widespread around the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and throughout the northeast Atlantic from Norway to Senegal (3).

The body consists of a central disk from which five arms radiate outward. The arms are not sharply marked off from the central disk. Sea stars have no designated head, and the mouth is in the center of the disk on the lower side of the sea star. The Asterias rubens may be a variety of colors including red, purple, and orange. Asterias rubens are measured anywhere from 5mm in armlength diameter to 150mm in diameter. (Bullough 1950)

Settlement of the Asterias rubens occurs along the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Studies performed along the coast of Nova Scotia show the tendency of these starfish to be found in kelp beds; they were the only echinoderms found on the kelp fronds. Further studies have shown that the population density of the Asterias rubens is correlated with subtidal blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, beds. These Mytilus edulis beds are short-lived due to intense predation; therefore, this influences the location of the Asterias rubens. (Barbeau, et al 1996)

Aquatic Biomes: coastal

intertidal, infralittoral and circalittoral of the Gulf and estuary

Depth range based on 3513 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 1563 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): -3 - 1158
  Temperature range (°C): 3.741 - 23.720
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.325 - 22.184
  Salinity (PPS): 31.635 - 36.225
  Oxygen (ml/l): 3.491 - 6.835
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.100 - 1.500
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.756 - 15.790

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): -3 - 1158

Temperature range (°C): 3.741 - 23.720

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.325 - 22.184

Salinity (PPS): 31.635 - 36.225

Oxygen (ml/l): 3.491 - 6.835

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.100 - 1.500

Silicate (umol/l): 0.756 - 15.790
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

 Asterias rubens occurs in varying abundance upon a variety of substrata that include coarse and shelly gravel and rock. Reported abundances vary between 2-31 Asterias rubens per m² on fine sand and 324-809 specimens on algal carpets (Anger et al., 1977).

The commonest British starfish intertidally and in the sublittoral. Particularly common on mussels in the shallow sublittoral and on soft sediments. One of the few echinoderms which can tolerate brackish conditions.

Found on a range of marine substrata including fine sand, rock and gravel (3). It can often be found amongst mussel beds and barnacles on British shores (2).

Asterias rubens feed mainly upon molluscs, especially bivalves and snails. In addition, they act as scavengers on any dead animals they encounter. Like all sea stars, the stomach of the Asterias rubens turns inside out through the mouth and slips into the shell of the prey. Next, digestive enzymes enter the prey along with the everted stomach lining to further aid in digestion. The sea star also may use its tube feet to pry open a bivalve. (Pearse, et al 1987)

Studies have monitored the predation of the Asterias rubens upon sea scallops, Placopecten magellanicus. The experiments were designed to test the importance of prey size and vulnerability of the sea scallops to the sea stars. The Asterias rubens preferred small- to medium-sized scallops, based on the sea star's ability to slowly sneak upon the prey. When doing so, predatory sea stars emit saponins to which scallops and other prey species detect and use against the predator to monitor the distance between the two. This allows the scallop time to protect itself from the hungry predator by assuming the ready-to-swim position. Crabs and other fish have the advantage of agility compared to the slow creeping sea stars, allowing these quicker organisms better food selection, or in other words, larger scallops. (Barbeau and Scheibling 1994b, Barbeau, et al 1996).

Studies of the effect of temperature upon predation rates by sea stars concluded that the effectiveness of sea scallops' escape response decreases with increasing temperature, resulting in a higher success rate for the sea star. (Barbeau and Scheibling 1994a)

Planktonic bipinnaria and brachilaria larva. Summer

The breeding season of the Asterias rubens occurs in the spring. A sea star is sexually mature after one year of development. Sea stars may reproduce sexally or asexually. Asexual reproduction involves division of the disk and regeneration of each half. Sexual reproduction involves the production of sperm and eggs by separate female and male sea stars. Fertilization occurs outside the individuals in the seawater.

During embryo development, the Asterias rubens forms a blastula, which in three days forms the larva with structures such as the gut, anus, and coelom.

Populations of Asterias rubens have been found to be infected with the ciliate Orchitophrya stellarum. This parasite infects only male sea stars causing a variety of damage, including mechanical damage to the gonads, alteration in the host's hormonal pattern, and direct consumption of gonadal tissues. This decreases the reproductive potential of a population and may reduce the proportion of males to females. Fortunately, the decline in the number of males within a population, increases the likelihood of larvae survivorship because of increased food availability. (Bullough 1950; Pearse, et al 1987; Borradaile and Potts 1963)

Genomic DNA is available from 1 specimen with morphological vouchers housed at Queensland Museum

Genomic DNA is available from 3 specimens with morphological vouchers housed at Australia Museum and Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species. 

 
There are 16 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
 

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 17
Species: 23
Species With Barcodes: 1

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

Widespread in Britain (3).

Not currently threatened.

Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.

The Asterias rubens does not adversely affect humans, except through competition for shellfish.

The Asterias rubens contributes no important benefits to humans.