Astropecten Platyacanthus

It has narrow and high superomarginal plates, laterally covered with scales and small spines (on vertical face). Every superomarginal plates is equipped with one strong spine, usually sharp but irregularly shaped, slightly flattened laterally, often yellow or orange but rarely off white. Sometimes, especially in young specimen, only superomarginal plates between the arms are equipped with one strong spine while others are not (in some rare specimens all the superomarginal plates are totally devoid of spines). In populations of certain areas of the Mediterranean (for example, the South of Corsica) this feature is very frequent.

Starfishes of genus Astropecten live on mobile seabed (sandy, muddy or gravel seabed) and they remain largely buried under sediment during the day. During the late afternoon and the night starfishes go out to hunt mainly bivalve molluscs, which are their favourite preys.

This species lives only in the Mediterranean Sea and it lives on all mobile seabed at depths between 1 and 60 m, but it is more frequently in seabed of mixed coarse sand and mud at 1–4 m depth.

This species is active and easy to find during the night but also during the day, especially in early morning and late afternoon.