Astropecten vappa Sand Starfish cm 2-3 Star Fish Sea Star Echinoderma Asterozoa Asteroidea Astropectinidae

Description

Origin : Pacific Ocean

Size : cm 2-3

Astropecten vappa about cm 2-3 Sand Star Fish Starfish Sea Star Echinoderma Asterozoa Asteroidea Astropectinidae, natural havana-orange colour.
Family: Astropectinidae.
Common name: Sand Star or Scalloped Starfish.
Syn: Astropecten coppingeri, Astropecten hartmeyeri, Astropecten rosea, Astropecten siamensis, Astropecten sibogae, Astropecten zebra.
Subspecies: Astropecten vappa inaequalis, Astropecten vappa vappa

Astropecten is a genus of starfish of the class Asteroidea family Astropectinidae which includes about a hundred species, 6 of which are present in the Mediterranean. These stars are similar to each other and it can be difficult to determine their species with certainty from just a photograph. In order to have a certain determination, in some cases, it would be necessary to analyze the animal in the laboratory or make use of genetic analyses. Often, however, this is not possible and the species can be determined, with a reasonable margin of error, by observing the animal's appearance, in particular by basing itself on some typical characters described by the major authors who over the years have analyzed in the laboratory a large number of specimens. the main elements from which the various species can be determined from photography are: the appearance of the dorsal and ventral marginal plates and of the relative quills, the size, the shape of the disc and of the arms.
Two clearly distinct sides can be identified in starfish: the aboral side which is the upper side of the star (which is usually the visible one) and the oral side which is the lower part of the star on which it rests on the seabed.
Astropecten vappa was described by Müller and Franz Hermann Troschel in 1843.