Protoreaster nodosus

Two Knotty rolling starfish on the coast of Sulawesi in Manado

The Gnarled rolling starfish ( Protoreaster nodosus ) is a very large, 40 inches in diameter -reach starfish. He lives on the coasts of the tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa and Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Indonesia to tropical, northern Australia, to the shore of the South Pacific and north to Japan.

Features

The Gnarled rolling starfish is heavily armored, his short, powerful arms are tapered and rounded front. Its color is usually whitish, cream, orange or red, rarely occur also yellow and blue shades. On the high-backed body top and the arms are short, strong, dark spines.

Way of life

Gnarled rolling starfish living on sandy or muddy bottoms at depths of 3-20 meters. They feed carnivorous mainly of shells and snails, but also go to sponges, soft corals, bryozoans, tube worms and other soil-dwelling invertebrate organisms. Your food digest them outside the body in its everted stomach.

Because they look dead very decorative, they are often collected, dried and sold to tourists.