ADW: Luidia alternata: INFORMATION

<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns:og="http://ogp.me/ns#" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> <head> <title>ADW: Luidia alternata: INFORMATION</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Luidia_alternata/" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-migrate-3.3.2.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/compat.js"></script> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://animaldiversity.org/favicon.ico" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Gentium+Book+Basic:400,400italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=PT+Sans:400,700,400italic,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/bootstrap/css/bootstrap.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.styles.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.print.css" media="print" />  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/colorbox/colorbox.css" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Luidia_alternata/" /> <meta content="Luidia alternata" property="og:title" /> <meta content="website" property="og:type" /> <meta content="Animal Diversity Web" property="og:site_name" /> <meta content="https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/jo_okeefe/luidia_alternata_102_9265/medium.jpg" property="og:image" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@AnimalDiversity" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Luidia alternata" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Read about Luidia alternata on the Animal Diversity Web." /> <meta name="twitter:image:src" content="https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/jo_okeefe/luidia_alternata_102_9265/medium.jpg" /> <meta name="twitter:image:height" content="480" /> <meta name="twitter:image:width" content="457" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Luidia_alternata/" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/Hyphenator.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/social-likes/social-likes_birman.css" /> <style> .social-likes { margin: 0; } .social-likes__widget { margin: 0; } </style>   </head> <body> <div id="outerwrap"> <div id="header" aria-role="header"> <h1> <a id="homelink" href="/">Animal Diversity Web</a> </h1> <div class="umlinks"> <div class="relative"> <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/" id="ummzlink">University of Michigan Museum of Zoology</a> <a href="https://www.umich.edu/" id="umlink">University of Michigan</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="wrap" class="gradient"> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row-fluid"> <div class="span2 sidebar left"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs nav-stacked" id="sitemap"> <li> <a href="/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/animal_names/">About Animal Names</a> </li> <li> <a href="/teach/">Educational Resources</a> </li> <li> <a href="/collections/">Special Collections</a> </li> <li> <a href="/glossary/">Glossary</a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/">Browse Animalia</a> </li> </ul> <h2 class="offscreen">More Information</h2> <div class="well"> <h3>Additional Information</h3> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <a href="http://eol.org/search/?q=Luidia alternata&search=Go">Encyclopedia of Life</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="span7_5 blahblahblah main" aria-role="main"> <h2 class="rank-species">Luidia alternata</h2> <div class="social-likes" data-counters="no"> <div class="facebook" title="Share link on Facebook">Facebook</div> <div class="twitter" title="Share link on Twitter">Twitter</div> </div> <div class="snapshots" aria-hidden="true"> <ul> <li> <a href="/accounts/Luidia_alternata/pictures/collections/contributors/jo_okeefe/luidia_alternata_102_9265/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/jo_okeefe/luidia_alternata_102_9265/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="byline">By Monica Verma</div> <nav class="contents"> <ul> <li> <a href="#geographic_range">Geographic Range</a> </li> <li> <a href="#habitat">Habitat</a> </li> <li> <a href="#physical_description">Physical Description</a> </li> <li> <a href="#reproduction">Reproduction</a> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <a href="#behavior">Behavior</a> </li> <li> <a href="#food_habits">Food Habits</a> </li> <li> <a href="#economic_importance_positive">Economic Importance for Humans: Positive</a> </li> <li> <a href="#conservation_status">Conservation Status</a> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <a href="#contributors">Contributors</a> </li> <li> <a href="#references">References</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <div class="inner-wrap"> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="geographic_range">Geographic Range</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced"><span rank="Species" class="taxon-link rank-species">Luidia alternata</span> can be found from North Carolina down to Argentina. Although they concentrate on the coasts of Mississippi, Texas, and Mexico, <span class="taxon-link rank-species">L. alternata</span> are also seen in the Caribbean and off of Florida's coast.</p> <ul class="keywords donthyphenate last"> <li class="keywords-header">Biogeographic Regions</li> <li> <a class="gloss" href="#20020917114102">atlantic ocean</a> <ul> <li> <a class="gloss" href="#20020904145365">native</a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="habitat">Habitat</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced">These sea stars occur in sandy and muddy sediment in 3-50 meters of water.</p> <ul class="keywords donthyphenate last"> <li class="keywords-header">Aquatic Biomes</li> <li> <a class="gloss" href="#20020904145431">benthic</a> </li> </ul> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="physical_description">Physical Description</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced"><em>Luida alternata</em> usually reaches 20 cm from arm to arm but some may increase to a diameter of 40 cm. Its dorsal side is white or cream-colored with bands of dark green, purple, black or brown scattered on it. Its ventral surface is yellow with bright orange tube feet. They have five straplike arms fringed with slender spines. They appear fragile with the rows of paxillae irregularly arranged. The paxillae near the arm margins are larger than the midline and they hold a single long, pointed erect spine surrounded by small spinelets.</p> <ul class="keywords donthyphenate last"> <li class="keywords-header">Other Physical Features</li> <li> <a class="gloss" href="#20020916131519">ectothermic</a> </li> </ul> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="reproduction">Reproduction</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced">The ovaries of a female are pale salmon and contains egg cells about 1.9 mm in diameter. Female stars release their eggs into the water when they detects the presence of sperm, and vice versa for males. The triggers to begin the process are not known. The eggs that are fertillized develop into a free-swimming bilaterally symmetrical larvae called a bipinnaria. After about a month the 2mm long bipinnaria settles to the bottom and metamorphoses into the radially symmetric adult form.</p> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="behavior">Behavior</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced">The most well-known behavior this sea star as well as others hold is its ability to regenerate severed or voluntarily automized arms. This form of regeneration is important for it can lead to asexual reproduction in the larvae stage.</p> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="food_habits">Food Habits</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced"><span class="taxon-link rank-species">L. alternata</span> usually preys on other echinoderms like brittle stars, but on occasion they consume dead bait thrown overboard by fishermen. Since it is a common inhabitant of scallop beds off the Carolina coast, it usually preys on small individuals of the sea star species <em>Astropecten articulatus</em>. Because their tube feet lack the suckers needed to open bivalves, they swallow their prey whole, then regurgitate the undigestable portions.</p> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="economic_importance_positive">Economic Importance for Humans: Positive</h3> <p audience="intermediate advanced">Since this species feeds on other seastars, it may be beneficial to shellfish fisheries because it eats other sea stars, some of which eat shellfish. Also, <span class="taxon-link rank-species">L. alternata</span> is often used for eductional study.</p> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="conservation_status">Conservation Status</h3> <ul class="aside block-grid donthyphenate three-up"> <li> <dl> <dt> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">IUCN Red List</a> </dt> <dd> <span>No special status</span> </dd> </dl> </li> <li> <dl> <dt> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.fws.gov/endangered/">US Federal List</a> </dt> <dd> <span>No special status</span> </dd> </dl> </li> <li> <dl> <dt> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php">CITES</a> </dt> <dd> <span>No special status</span> </dd> </dl> </li> </ul> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="contributors">Contributors</h3> <p>Monica Verma (author), Southwestern University, Stephanie Fabritius (editor), Southwestern University. </p> </section> <section class="offscreen"> <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> <div id="20020917114102"> <dl> <dt>Atlantic Ocean</dt> <dd> <p>the body of water between Africa, Europe, the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), and the western hemisphere. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean.</p> <p align="center"> <img alt="World Map" src="/images/worldmap.2001.jpg" /> </p> </dd> </dl> </div> <div id="20020904145431"> <dl> <dt>benthic</dt> <dd> <p>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.</p> </dd> </dl> </div> <div id="20020916131519"> <dl> <dt>ectothermic</dt> <dd> <p>animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature</p> </dd> </dl> </div> <div id="20020904145365"> <dl> <dt>native range</dt> <dd> <p>the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.</p> </dd> </dl> </div> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="references">References</h3> <p id="3ec8317a27879b7a6405f937532113a2">Cooke, J., D. Nichols. 1979. <span style="font-style: italic">Oxford Bood of Invertebrates</span>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. </p> <p id="2239e5cc3cec23a749e49d49776c62b9">Fotheringham, N., S. Brunenmeister. January 1989. <span style="font-style: italic">Beachcomber's Guide to Gulf Coast Marine Life</span>. Houston, Texas: Gulf Publishing Company. </p> <p id="6c738cffd36a934e0ad6e8ce32a1a728">Grzimek, B. 1972. <span style="font-style: italic">Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia</span>. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. </p> <p id="905b62bcd38d6cc819d794208f4c1232">Hendler, G., J. Miller, D. Pawson, P. Kier. 1995. <span style="font-style: italic">Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and Allies</span>. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. </p> </section> </div> </div> <div class="span2_5 right sidebar"> <div class="well" id="pocket-guide-link"> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adw-pocket-guide/id916179421?mt=8" target="_blank"><i class="icon-download icon-white" style="vertical-align: bottom"></i> ADW Pocket Guides on the iOS App Store! </a> <p>The Animal Diversity Web team is excited to announce ADW Pocket Guides!</p> <p> <a href="/news/5009059054038197651/">Read more...</a> </p> </div> <h2 class="offscreen">Search</h2> <div id="site-search"> <form action="/search" method="GET"> <label for="q" class="offscreen">Enter search text</label> <input value="" id="q" name="q" class="span12" size="15" type="text" placeholder="Search ADW" /> <button class="btn"> <i class="icon-zoom-in"></i> <span class="offscreen">Search</span> </button> <p style="max-height: 35px"> <label for="feature-list" class="offscreen">Search in feature</label> <select size="1" name="feature" 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id="feature-classification"> Classification </a> </dd> </dl> <div class="classification well"> <h3>Classification</h3> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <span class="rank">Kingdom</span> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/" class="taxon-name rank-kingdom">Animalia</a> <span class="vernacular-name">animals</span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="4749">Animalia: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: pictures (22861)" data-delay="250">Animalia: pictures (22861)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/specimens/" class="feature feature-specimens" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: specimens (7109)" data-delay="250">Animalia: specimens (7109)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/sounds/" class="feature feature-sounds" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: 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data-original-title="Luidiidae: pictures (4)" data-delay="250">Luidiidae: pictures (4)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-specimens"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> <li> <span class="rank">Genus</span> <a href="/accounts/Luidia/" class="taxon-name rank-genus">Luidia</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div class="features"> <span class="feature-off feature-information"></span> <a href="/accounts/Luidia/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Luidia: pictures (4)" data-delay="250">Luidia: pictures (4)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-specimens"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> <li class="active"> <span class="rank">Species</span> <a href="/accounts/Luidia_alternata/" class="taxon-name rank-species">Luidia alternata</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div 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"Luidia alternata" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 28, 2024 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Luidia_alternata/</p> </div> <div class="disclaimer"> <p class="content"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource <strong>written largely by and for college students</strong>. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. 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ADW: Luidia alternata: INFORMATION