Coscinasterias calamaria
Encyclopedia
Coscinasterias calamaria, or the eleven-armed sea star, is a sea star
of the family
Asteriidae
, endemic
to southern Australia
and New Zealand
. Armspread is up to 30 cm.
Sea star
Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "starfish" and "sea star" essentially refer to members of the class Asteroidea...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Asteriidae
Asteriidae
Asteriidae is a family of Asteroidea in the order Forcipulatida.-Genera:Genera within the family Asteriidae include:* Ampheraster Fisher, 1923 * Anteliaster Fisher, 1923 * Aphanasterias * Asterias Linnaeus, 1758...
, endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to southern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Armspread is up to 30 cm.