Pycnopodia Stimpson 1862

Jervis Inlet, British Columbia. Juvenile.

Jervis Inlet, British Columbia.

The sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) is a large predatory sea star usually with 1624 limbs called rays. It is the largest sea star in the world. Sunflower sea stars can grow to have an arm span of 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) in diameter.[2] The color of the sunflower sea star ranges from bright orange, yellow and red to brown and sometimes to purple, with soft, velvet-textured bodies and 1624 arms with powerful suckers.[2][3] Most sea star species have a mesh-like skeleton that protects their internal organs.[4] Easily stressed by predators such as large fish and other sea stars, they can shed arms to escape, which will grow back within a few weeks. They are preyed upon by the king crab.[4]

Summary[edit] Description: Sea Star is growing new legs after old ones were lost. Here's close up of the same Sea Star Photograped by Brocken Inaglory in Northern California Photograped by Brocken Inaglory in Northern California. Date: 19 April 2007 (original upload date). Source: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Author: No machine-readable author provided. Mbz1 assumed (based on copyright claims).

Jervis Inlet, British Columbia. Detail of rays.

Jervis Inlet, British Columbia. Oral surface.

Moscavide, Lisboa, Portugal

Summary[edit] Description: This was a common sight; a single arm of P. helianthoides , still clinging to the rock, decomposing. Kelvin Grove, September 2, 2013. Date: 2 September 2013, 12:47. Source: P1050363. Author: Jonathan Martin from Coquitlam, BC, Canada.

Aboral..

I'm 98% certain of the species ID but have not had it confirmed by an expert. There are 180 species of Echinoderms in the Pacific Northwest, but this one seems pretty unique in the descriptions (largest seastar in the PNW; 16-24 arms -- this specimen appears to have 16), and matches the pictures of it online.

Description: Sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), aka Twenty Ray Sea Star. Date: 9 January 2009, 15:17. Source: Sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) aka Twenty Ray Sea Star, Digital Photo Walk at Montana de Oro's Hazard Reef Tidepools, led by Jerry Kirkhart, 09 Jan. 2009. 25 people attended. Author: Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA. Camera location35° 16′ 55.97″ N, 120° 53′ 16.56″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 35.282215; -120.887933.

Summary[edit] Description: Pycnopodia helianthoides - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Date: 6 June 2006, 09:20. Source: sunflower star. Author: Ed Bierman from CA, usa. Camera location48° 24′ 47.29″ N, 123° 23′ 46.34″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 48.413137; -123.396205.

Summary[edit] Description: English: Photo of a sunflower seastar, taken at Long Marine Lab's Seymour Discovery Center in Santa Cruz, California. Date: 1 June 2010. Source: iPhone camera photo taken at Long Marine Lab's Seymour Discovery Center during a visit to the museum Previously published: Shared on reddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/Blue/comments/1gbq51/a_sunflower_seastar_at_the_aquarium/. Author: AlexEng. Other information English: I personally took this photo using my own camera. The date of creation is approximate. Licensing[edit] I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following licenses: : Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.htmlGFDLGNU Free Documentation Licensetruetrue. : This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. :. You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 CC BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 truetrue. You may select the license of your choice.

This closeup of the dorsum of the sunflower star shows the animal's spines surounded by pincers together with the intervening skin gills.

Summary[edit] Description: This one doesn't look too bad, though the arms are curling. Furry Creek. September 21st, 2013. Date: 21 September 2013, 12:02. Source: P1050428. Author: Jonathan Martin from Coquitlam, BC, Canada.

Summary[edit] Description: English: sunflower sea stars on Colvos Passage on the Kitsap Peninsula Puget Sound region. Date: 27 August 2012, 07:38:53. Source: Own work. Author: Lumpytrout.

Oral..

Summary[edit] Description: Pycnopodia helianthoides - Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. Date: 28 January 2012, 08:57. Source: Sunflower star amid Anemone and other critters. Author: Ed Bierman from CA, usa. Camera location36° 31′ 12.99″ N, 121° 56′ 26.4″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 36.520276; -121.940667.

Summary[edit] Description: English: Sun flower Sea Star Photograped by Brocken Inaglory in :Northern California. Date: 17 December 2007 (original upload date). Source: Own workTransferred from en.wikipedia. Author: Brocken Inaglory.

Summary[edit] Description: Pycnopodia helianthoides and Patiria miniata - Pacific Grove Acres, Pacific Grove, California. Date: 23 May 2014, 09:31. Source: Baby Sunflower Star. Author: Ed Bierman from CA, usa. Camera location36° 37′ 52.32″ N, 121° 54′ 46.75″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 36.631200; -121.912987.

Summary[edit] Description: English: Sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) is growing new legs after old ones were lost in Northern California. Date: 2007. Source: Own work (Original text: self-made). Author: Brocken Inaglory.

Sunflower star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) along the Elwha River dam removal survey transect. Divers are looking to compare what they see from previous surveys in the area. Species die off or increasing abundance during and after dam removal can reveal the effectiveness of the dam removal technique, and be instructive for dam removal efforts elsewhere. See more photos and ask questions of EPA Divers at www.facebook.com/EPAdivers Photo (and left hand) of Scott Grossman, EPA-ERT.