Common starfish by Susan Clay 1/4
Common starfish by David North 2/4
Common starfish in the strandline by Beverley Scott 3/4
Common starfish by Tabitha Pearman 4/4

Common Starfish Asterias rubens

Typically a five armed star-shaped creature which varies greatly in colour, though tends to be a yellowish orange. Look for them on rocky shores, in pools of water or underneath boulders.

Conservation status

Not threatened. However, the marine environment is under pressure and by supporting campaigns for better protection of marine ecosystems we can help the starfish and other marine invertebrates. In Norfolk, the Cromer Shoal Chalk Bed (chalk reef) was designated as a Marine Conservation Area in 2016 and supports an array of species – including common starfish.

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Did you know?

The common starfish can push its stomach outside of its body to digest large mussels by using its powerful feet to prise apart their shells and insert its stomach into the small gap in the shell. It then brings the digested body parts back into its body for digestion in its second stomach.

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