These sea stars have 5 arms, and can reach up to 12 inches across. The upper surface is reddish-brown with blue-gray patches, with reddish-orange patches of gills.
Habitat
Found from the intertidal to depths of 300’, usually on rocks but sometimes on sand or mud.
Diet
Fish eggs, sea anemones, sea urchins, sea sponges, sea pens, and other invertebrates
Life History
They can reproduce asexually by dividing or regenerating missing parts. These sea stars are broadcast spawners. Females release small, translucent, yellow-orange eggs that drift. The first larval stage, called a bipinnaria, feeds on zooplankton as it swims and drifts about. The larva will later develop 3 short, sticky arms on its underside for attaching to the bottom. This later larval stage is called a brachiolaria, or anchor larva.
IUCN Status
Not Evaluated
Ecosystem & Cultural Importance
These stars are important to their predators. Predators of the leather star include larger sea stars, sea gulls, and sea otters. Leather stars will sometimes have a red-banded commensal worm Arctonoe vittata living on them.
They feed by expelling their stomach out through their mouth to trap prey and release digestive enzymes. When a leather star touches a swimming anemone, the anemone will detach and swim away
Citations & Other Resources
Invertebrates of the Salish Sea website: https://inverts.wallawalla.edu/Echinodermata/Class%20Asteroidea/Dermasterias_imbricata.html
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation: https://marinesanctuary.org/blog/sea-wonder-leather-sea-star/
Sea Stars of the Pacific Northwest website: https://www.seastarsofthepacificnorthwest.info/leather-star.html
Victoria High Marine website: https://dev.vichighmarine.ca/leather-star/
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