- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Echinodermata
- Subphylum: Asterozoa
- Class: Asteroidea
- Order: Spinulosida
- Family: Echinasteridae
- Scientific name: Henricia spp.
- Norwegian: -
Characteristics:
These are relative small sea stars (diameter usually less than 12 cm) with five arms. They come in a variety of colors: purple, white, yellow, orange, pink red or combinations of these. Some have color patterns like paint was plashed over their body. A typical feature for all species is arm tips pointing upwards. Identifications from pictures alone are highly uncertain.
Habitat:
The Henricia species seem to prefer hard substrate, from 10 to 1000 meters.
Distribution:
Three species are registered along the entire coast of Norway:
- Henricia perforata is known from the North-East Atlantic Ocean.
- Henricia pertusa is registered across the North Atlantic Ocean.
- Henricia sanguinolenta is registered across the North Atlantic Ocean.
There are some uncertainties regarding the registrations, due to possible misidentification of these species.