Glénan Archipelago, France, 17 meters, 2004, WBN
Glénan Archipelago, France, 15 meters, 2005, WBN
Astropecten irregularis has a flattened body of up to 12 cm in diameter. The five arms are bordered by two lines of spines, the upper ones shorter than the lower ones, thus its common name. Its colour is yellowish to pale orange with small brown spots at the intersection of the arms and on the central disc in a star-shaped drawing. The armtips bear a violet ocella underlining a photosensitive tube-foot. Astropecten irregularis feeds on molluscs, worms, heart-urchins and brittle stars found on sandy bottoms where it can hide.
Astropecten irregularis is found from 2 to 1000 m deep in the Atlantic Ocean from Norway to Morocco, the English Channel, the North Sea and in the Western Mediterranean Sea.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Superdomain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Echinodermata (Phylum)
Asterozoa (Subphylum)
Asteroidea (Class)
Ambuloasteroidea (Subclass)
Neoasteroidea (Infraclass)
Valvatacea (Superorder)
Paxillosida (Order)
Astropectinidae (Family)
Astropecten (Genus)
Astropecten irregularis (Species)
Tube foot : tube-shaped element ending by a sucker-disc used to attach to substratum.
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2025.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Image satellite: © Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community.
Données de distribution : Astropecten irregularis (Pennant, 1777) in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-09-19.
Source : World Register of Marine Species
Biota (Superdomain)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Echinodermata (Phylum)
Asterozoa (Subphylum)
Asteroidea (Class)
Ambuloasteroidea (Subclass)
Neoasteroidea (Infraclass)
Valvatacea (Superorder)
Paxillosida (Order)
Astropectinidae (Family)
Astropecten (Genus)
Astropecten irregularis (Species)
Tube foot : tube-shaped element ending by a sucker-disc used to attach to substratum.
Text : Anne Bay-Nouailhat © 2005 - 2025.
Photos : ©
Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat. Published with his kind permission.
Websites and reference works : Consult bibliography
Bay-Nouailhat A., March 2005, Description of Astropecten irregularis, [On line] https://www.european-marine-life.org/30/astropecten-irregularis.php, consulted on 2025 September 19.
Author
Chargée d’études en environnement marin
Plongeuse professionnelle - Naturaliste
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