Cushion sea star
Culcita novaeguineae
- Scientific name
- Culcita novaeguineae
- Group
- Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Not evaluated
Did you know?
As it grows, the cushion sea star loses its clearly star-shaped outline and becomes almost round and puffy, like a cushion. Juveniles, by contrast, keep five distinct arms before this transformation happens.
What defines this group — Echinoderms (starfish, urchins...)
Starfish, urchins and sea cucumbers: a five-fold symmetry found nowhere else in the animal kingdom.
- The body is arranged in fives around a centre: no head, no front, no back.
- They move on hundreds of tube feet driven by water under pressure.
- Many regrow a lost arm; some starfish can rebuild themselves from a single one.