Granulated Sea Star

Q: Where can you find Granulated Sea Star?

Granulated Sea Star can be found in: Bali, Egypt East, Laccadive Islands, Mariana Islands, Saudi Arabia West, Malaysia East, Taiwan, Australia North, Malaysia West, Somalia East, Vanuatu, Sudan, Brunei, China, Myanmar, Eritrea, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, India, Israel, Japan South, India East, India West, Thailand East, Thailand West, Israel South, Indo-Pacific West, Oman, Oman East, Somalia North, Australia East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam, Seychelles, Cambodia, Indo-Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Singapore, Tanzania, Malaysia, Red Sea, Japan, Indonesia, Chagos Islands, Mozambique, Jordan, Palau, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Egypt, Yemen, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Pakistan, Djibouti, Comoros, Fiji, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Somalia.

Choriaster granulatus

More photos in Seabook

Max Size

See in App

Max Weight

—

Max Depth

40 m

Choriaster granulatus is a species of starfish. It is the only species in the genus Choriaster.

Other names: Cushion Seastar and Doughboy Star.

Description

Choriaster granulatus is a large seastar, and is easily identified by its five distinctive large, short, thick conical arms. It is usually pale pink in colour, has small, brown papillae in clusters located in the central part of its body. This species grows to a maximum radius of approximately 27 cm.

Distribution

Indo-Pacific region from Red Sea and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji and Great Barrier Reef.

Habitat

Choriaster granulatus lives in shallow waters at depths of up to 40 metres, and is found on rubble slopes, coral reefs, in the reef front, back reef, the external reef, and frequently in locations with rubble and detritus.

Behaviour and diet

This starfish feeds on algae, detritus, and dead animals. One of its predators is the sea snail Triton's trumpet (Charonia tritonis). It also eats various small invertebrates and coral polyps.