E-Fauna Photo Gallery

Hippasteria phrygiana  (Spiny Red Sea Star)

Photo of Hippasteria phrygiana by Royal BC Museum
© Royal BC Museum (Photo ID #2315)

Photographer's Submitted Details

Photo Location Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island Photographer Royal BC Museum
Habitat subtidal rock
Photo Date July 01, 1976 Upload Date October 30, 2007
Elevation (m)
UTM Zone # Latitude
UTM Easting Longitude
UTM Northing Photo ID # 2315
Notes Photo: Brent Cooke, RBCM. Close-up shows the conspicuous bivalved, unstalked pedicellariae (mini-pincers). Recent DNA work has shown that H. spinosa is the same as Hippasteria phrygiana. The latter takes precidence as it is the older name. Reference: Foltz, D.W. et.al. 2013. Global population divergence of the sea star Hippasteria phrygiana corresponds to the onset of the last glacial period of the Pleistocene. Marine Biology (2013): 1-12.


  |      |      |      |      |     |