Nine-Armed Sea Star

Phylum - Echinodermatae

Class - Asteroidae  (Sea Stars)

Order - Platyasterida

Family - Luidiidae

Genus and Species - Luidia senegalensis (Larmarck)

Starfish are not actually a fish at all , but are animals belonging  to the Phylum Echinodermata, and are further divided into two classes Asteroidea (sea stars) and Ophiuroidea (brittle stars). 

Food: Although starfish are thought to be passive they can be quite a hungry predator under the sea.  Starfish feed primarily on mollusks and other Echinoderms.

Appearance: While  starfish are commonly represented as having only 5 legs , there the Nine-armed Sea Star exhibits nearly twice as many.

inhabit soft bottoms such as sand and mud (Figueiredo & Menezes, 1980; Humann, 1994). These bottom types also frequently harbor the sea star

L. senegalensis,  burrows itself to feed on infauna and benthic prey (such as clams) and is rarely seen in the open.

The bites aimed at the L. senegalensis aboral surface perhaps were keeping the sea star moving, a behaviour likely similar to the "rubbing" of eels by groupers (Dubin, 1982). Sea star tube feet and its commensal porcelain crabs showed to be potential prey to the two Diplectrum species, but under normal conditions, this food type should be inaccessible (most likely the fishes are unable to overturn the sea star by themselves). However, if the sea star is overturned by a larger predator, or when it is sick and weak, and may be turned without much effort, the sand perches may take the opportunity to exploit this unusual food source.