Echinoderm · sea star

Antarctic sea star

Odontaster validus

PacificAtlanticIndianSouthernArctic A single ocean

Depth

From the shore down to 914 m, mostly between 15 and 200 m

Size

About 7 cm from the center to the tip of an arm

Diet

Almost anything: carrion, sponges, algae, sea urchins, other sea stars, and even seal droppings

Zone

The sea floor · 200 – 3,500 m

Key facts

• It grows very slowly and could live more than 100 years.
• They sometimes hunt in groups to devour a sea urchin.
• When well fed, it stores enough reserves to last about a year without eating.
• A female lays on average 0.7 to 1.2 million eggs per year.

Verified sources

1. Brueggeman, Underwater Field Guide to Ross Island & McMurdo Sound : étoiles de mer (NSF)
2. Peck et al., écologie alimentaire d’Odontaster validus (PMC)
3. SeaLifeBase : Odontaster validus

In the game: To observe

In the same zone

Giant Antarctic sea starMacroptychaster accrescens Antarctic sea urchinSterechinus neumayeri Abyssal Antarctic dragonfishBathydraco scotiae Emerald rockcodTrematomus bernacchii Turquet’s octopusPareledone turqueti Antarctic feather starPromachocrinus kerguelensis and related species