Luidia sarsii explained

Luidia sarsii is a species of starfish. Sand colored with a velvety texture, the species expresses pentamerism or pentaradial symmetry as adults. The five gently tapering arms have conspicuous bands of long white marginal spines in groups of three. Luidia sarsi grow to approximately 20 cm across and are found in deeper water (20 m+) from Norway to the Mediterranean but in deep colder water in the south. They are usually found on muddy sediment and are most active at night, burying themselves under the sand during the day. Luidia sarsii larva develop from a fertilized egg and are unique in a number of respects. The larva of the species attains an unusual size (up to 35 mm^[1]) and a juvenile starfish develops inside the larva. During metamorphosis the juvenile migrates to the outside and detaches from the swimming larval bipinnaria stage. The larva continues to live separately for several months.^[2]

Further reading

• Doxa. Chrisa K.. Kentouri. Maroudio. Divanach. Pascal. Feeding of Charonia seguenza (Aradas & Benoit, 1870) on Natural Prey and Alternative Foods. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 2 December 2012. 79. Part 1. 76–78. 10.1093/mollus/eys029. free.
• Mifsud. C.. Remarks on Echinodermata from the South Central Mediterranean Sea based upon collections made during the MARCOS cruise. Mediterranean Marine Science. Dec 2009. 10. 63–71. 10.12681/mms.109. Taviani. M.. Stohr. S.. free.
• Sumida. Paulo Y. G.. Tyler. Paul A.. Billett. Davis S. M.. Early juvenile development of deep-sea asteroids of the NE Atlantic Ocean, with notes on juvenile bathymetric distributions. Acta Zoologica. January 2001. 82. 1. 11–40. 10.1046/j.1463-6395.2001.00058.x.
• Wilson. Douglas P. Some Observations on Bipinnariae and Juveniles of the Starfish Genus Luidia. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. May 1978. 58. 2. 467–478. 10.1017/S0025315400028125. 1978JMBUK..58..467W . 83815653 .

Notes and References

1. Domanski. PA. Giant larvae: Prolonged planktonic larval phase in the asteroid Luidia sarsi. Marine Biology. June 1984. 80. 2. 10.1007/BF02180186. 189–195. 1984MarBi..80..189D. 86562210.
2. Web site: Luidia. The Integrator (Website of the University of Illinois at Urbana Integrative Biology program). September 17, 2004.