Many of you are probably familiar with the common intertidal sea star in this area, the Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus). Ochre Sea Stars typically have five arms (or rays). From time to time you might come across one with six arms, but we hadn't encountered an individual with eight arms (!) until Eric spotted this one. Because this is a rare occurrence, we thought it would be good to document it for the record.
Here's another view showing the oral side:
We're still puzzling over the possible paths that could have led to an eight-armed Ochre Sea Star.
2 comments:
Maybe it's some kind of reaction to the wasting disease. Great find.
Hi, John,
We think that's likely. It's still puzzling to figure out how it got to eight arms, but we're reviewing possibilities with folks who know more than us about arm regeneration. Might take a little while, but there could be some follow-up.
:) Jackie
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