The ochre sea star is a five-armed starfish of rocky, wave-battered shores from Prince William Sound in Alaska to central California, usually purple but sometimes orange, yellow, reddish, or brown, with rays 10 to 25 centimeters long gripped to rock by suckered tube feet. It is the textbook keystone species of marine ecology: experiments by zoologist Robert Paine showed that removing it from a shoreline let mussels take over and crowd out other invertebrates, since a single sea star can consume roughly eighty mussels a year by prying open their shells and everting its stomach inside. Individuals can live up to twenty years, and a 2013 wasting-disease outbreak devastated populations that have since been slowly recovering.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to PeopleEcotourism and Research 1 Comparison
NatureServe Rank CITES Appendix Scientific Name Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Ochre Sea Star
In Biome
Source Wikidata: Ochre Sea Star
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Animal Diversity Web: Pisaster ochraceus
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyPrimary Diet, Pisaster ochraceus
Primary Diet carnivore carnivore
Conservation Status: CITES
CITES No special status
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
The only positive benefit for humans is that they are admired by tourists as they are clinging to the rocks on a bay area.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Pisaster ochraceus
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
Pisaster ochraceus, generally known as the purple sea star, ochre sea star, or ochre starfish, is a common seastar found among the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
article text (conservation status), EntityId 332441
Pisaster ochraceus has not been evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In Group: Sea Stars (Asteroidea), Lead
Pisaster ochraceus, generally known as the purple sea star, ochre sea star, or ochre starfish, is a common seastar found among the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
View the Source3. NatureServe Explorer: Pisaster ochraceus
NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "GNR"
4. Wikipedia: Pisaster ochraceus
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Ochre Sea Star
- Wikidata Q2727642, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Asteroidea, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
- In Biome: Intertidal Zone, Introduction
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