Geographic Range
Pycnopodia helianthoides
is commonly found in marine environments ranging from the shallow waters of the Aleutian
Islands, Alaska, to San Diego, California.
- Biogeographic Regions
- nearctic
- pacific ocean
Habitat
Sunflower stars are commonly found on various substrates like mud, sand, gravel, boulders
and rock. They are found from the intertidal zone to 435 m, however, most are found
no more than 120 m.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- saltwater or marine
- Aquatic Biomes
- benthic
- Other Habitat Features
- intertidal or littoral
Physical Description
Pycnopodia helianthoides
, the largest of the sea stars, is radially symmetrical. The sunflower star has more
arms than any other species, numbering between 15 and 24 (most sea stars have between
5 and 14), and is the heaviest known sea star, weighing about 5 kg. Their arms are
up to 40 cm long and they are usually around 80 cm in diameter. The colors vary.
Some are reddish-orange to yellow, violet brown, purplish or slatey purple. The stomach
is found on the underside of the center body, or the oral surface. This area is usually
a lighter color with yellow or orange tube feet.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
has over 15,000 tube feet which have suction cups that allow the stars to cling to
rocks. The suctions cups are so strong that if you try to pull a sea star of a rock,
the suctions cups may break lose from the sea star and continue to stick on the rock.
- Other Physical Features
- ectothermic
- heterothermic
- radial symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes alike
Development
The eggs develop into swimming, bilateral larvae that usually remain in the plankton
for no more than 10 weeks. The larval form feeds on single-celled plants. When the
larva settles on the bottom it metamorphoses into a young sea star with five arms.
The young
P. helianthoides
initially feeds on the thin layer skin-celled plants that coat the bottom of their
marine habitat. The juvenille soon adds an arm clockwise from the bivium. Additional
arms are added bilaterally in pairs to either side of the sixth ray. Each new pair
is inserted between the last pair formed and the adjacent original arms.
- Development - Life Cycle
- metamorphosis
Reproduction
There is no sexual dimorphism within these species. Fertilization is external.
- Mating System
- polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Pycnopodia helianthoides
breeds by broadcast fertilization between March and July. However, the main peak
is May and June. Each separate sex sheds its eggs or sperm into the water where the
fertilization takes place by chance.
- Key Reproductive Features
- seasonal breeding
- sexual
- fertilization
- oviparous
There is no parental care within this species.
- Parental Investment
-
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
Lifespan/Longevity
Behavior
Pycnopodia helianthoides is solitary.
Sunflower star have the ability to regenerate its arms which may detach as a means of defense when handled excessively or attacked by a predator. A whole new sea star may form if the detached arm has a portion of the central disk is included.
Pycnopodia helianthoides primarily moves by walking on its tube feet which possess suckers. This particular sea star can move more rapidly because of its flexible body and the aboral skeletal plates are loosely connected to one another.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
migrates up and down the shore with the tide and exhibits annual migration as well.
Communication and Perception
If a predator attacks,
P. helianthoides
can let its arm drop off and send a chemical that causes an alarm response to other
sunflower stars in the area. If its arm is irritated or disturbed by a predator, it
will drop it off or autotomize its arm. The autotomy is triggered by a chemical that
is released by injured tissues. This allows sunflower stars to escape from the predator
holding onto its arm.
- Communication Channels
- chemical
- Other Communication Modes
- pheromones
Food Habits
Pycnopodia helianthoides
is primarily carnivorous, feeding on mussels, sea urchins, fish, crustaceans (crabs
and barnacles), sea cucumbers, clams, gastropods, sand dollars, and occasionally algae
and sponges. However, the diet varies with geographic location and the availability
of prey. For example, on the west coast, studies show that sea urchins are its main
prey. For most sunflower stars, sea urchins make up 21-98% of their diet. Sunflower
stars use their strong sense of smell and very sensitive indicators of light and dark
to find their prey, and can move at a quick rate of 10 cm per second or 18 feet per
minute. While moving, it puts its leading 8 arms in front and when it contacts the
prey, it throws the leading arms down on top of the prey.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
then protrudes its stomach, envelops the entire prey, and digests it. The arms and
greatly expandable tube feet are the basic tools of prey capture. Many species have
developed escape responses to sunflower stars. For example, the abalone
Haliotis
accelerates and at the same time whips it shell back and forth to break the grasp
of the tube feet of the sea star.
- Primary Diet
-
carnivore
- eats non-insect arthropods
- molluscivore
- eats other marine invertebrates
-
herbivore
- algivore
- omnivore
- Animal Foods
- mollusks
- aquatic crustaceans
- echinoderms
- other marine invertebrates
- Plant Foods
- algae
Predation
Sea stars have very few predators, especially
P. helianthoides
. Sometimes Alaska king crab and sea otters may attack sea stars. Birds such as
gulls have been known to prey upon sunflower stars. The magnitude of loss of intertidal
P. helianthoides
is enough to explain the near absence of these soft-bodied sea stars in the intertidal
zone of Tatoosh.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
can have large subtidal populations that do not experience bird predation resulting
in a little effect on their total population sizes. Predators mainly eat the sea
stars during their larval and juvenile stages. The availability of food, rather than
predation, limits the number of adult sunflower stars.
Ecosystem Roles
Pycnopodia helianthoides
regulates the structure of the benthic community. Between Oregon and the northern
Gulf of Alaska, this abudant sea star is the only species considered to be an important
sea urchin predator.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
coexists with its prey while otters decimate urchin populations; therefore, they
have a more subtle effect.
Pycnopodia helianthoides
creates small-scale, prey-free patches by consuming few prey individuals, while the
remaining prey exhibit a strong escape response. Since the urchins are herbivorous,
the short-term existence of prey-free patches can influence plant diversity and community
primary productivity.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
There was no information regarding the economic importance of P. helianthoides to humans.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
This species is viewed by many commercial fishers as a pest. The results of the sunflower
star's predacious behavior fouls long-line gear and crab pots.
Conservation Status
Other Comments
Pycnopodia helianthoides
is one of the most interesting and unique sea stars in its class. It is one of the
biggest, has the most arms, and also can move the fastest. Its radiant colors and
shape are also unique.
Additional Links
Contributors
Renee Sherman Mulcrone (editor).
Shayna Yagoda (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- Pacific Ocean
-
body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- saltwater or marine
-
mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.
- benthic
-
Referring to an animal that lives on or near the bottom of a body of water. Also an aquatic biome consisting of the ocean bottom below the pelagic and coastal zones. Bottom habitats in the very deepest oceans (below 9000 m) are sometimes referred to as the abyssal zone. see also oceanic vent.
- intertidal or littoral
-
the area of shoreline influenced mainly by the tides, between the highest and lowest reaches of the tide. An aquatic habitat.
- ectothermic
-
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- radial symmetry
-
a form of body symmetry in which the parts of an animal are arranged concentrically around a central oral/aboral axis and more than one imaginary plane through this axis results in halves that are mirror-images of each other. Examples are cnidarians (Phylum Cnidaria, jellyfish, anemones, and corals).
- metamorphosis
-
A large change in the shape or structure of an animal that happens as the animal grows. In insects, "incomplete metamorphosis" is when young animals are similar to adults and change gradually into the adult form, and "complete metamorphosis" is when there is a profound change between larval and adult forms. Butterflies have complete metamorphosis, grasshoppers have incomplete metamorphosis.
- polygynandrous
-
the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.
- seasonal breeding
-
breeding is confined to a particular season
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- external fertilization
-
fertilization takes place outside the female's body
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- migratory
-
makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds
- solitary
-
lives alone
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- pheromones
-
chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- carnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats meat
- molluscivore
-
eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- omnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals
References
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Dayton, P. 1975. Experimental Evaluation of Ecological Dominance in a Rocky Intertidal Algal Community. Ecological Monographs , 45/2: 137-159.
Duggins, D. 1983. Starfish Predation and the Creation of Mosaic Patterns in a Kelp-Dominated Community. Ecology , 64/6: 1610-1619.
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Lawrence, J. 1987. A Functional Biology of Echinoderms . Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
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