- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Echinodermata
- Subphylum: Asterozoa
- Class: Asteroidea
- Order: Paxillosida
- Family: Luidiidae
- Scientific name: Luidia ciliaris
- Norwegian: syvarmet sjørstjerne
Characteristics:
This seven armed sea star may reach a diameter of 60 cm. This is significantly bigger than the more common, five armed version, Luidia sarsi. The arms have a soft, velvet-like texture. The color is orange or brown. A band of long, white spines are running along each side of the arms.
Habitat:
It prefers sand or gravel, on depths from 4 to 400 meters. This predator feeds on other echinoderms, especially brittle stars and other sea stars.
Distribution:
It is widely distributed in the North-East Atlantic Ocean, from Shetland and Norway to the Azores and the Mediterranean.