Red Bloodstar

by Inge Johnsson

Title

Red Bloodstar

Artist

Inge Johnsson

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture, Watermark Not On Actual Print

Description

Little red bloodstar starfish on kelp in Washington state's Salt Creek County Park
.....
Henricia leviuscula, commonly called the Pacific blood star, is a species of starfish found along the Pacific coast of North America. They can usually be identified by their bright orange-red color, but there can also be many variations from tan to almost purple. The disk can be a mottled gray color. There can also be a saddle-like marking of lilac blotches between the rays, but the rays are not mottled. They commonly have 5 rays (occasionally 4�6). The rays are slender and appear smooth due to the lack of pedicellariae and spines. The species is relatively small; the diameter is usually over 8 cm and rarely gets larger than 12 cm. As with all seastars the blood star has a madreporite. The madreporite is a lightcolored calcerous opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It acts like a pressure-equalizing valve. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a sea star. Close up, it is visibly structured, resembling a "madrepore" (stone coral, Scleractinia) colony. From this, it derives its name.

Uploaded

December 10th, 2011

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