These were very common in the Tulamben and Padangbai areas and ranged in color from brown to orange to red. Many individuals had commensal shrimp Zenopontonia soror.
The stars were often colonized by yellow or maroon benthic ctenophores, hanging onto the stars like flatworms and stretching out their long feeding tentacles to catch plankton.
Maroon benthic ctenophores on the star below.
The commensal shrimp Zenopontonia soror on the star immediately above.
This one had a growth anomaly on one of its arms.
Other Echinaster luzonicus with commensal Zenopontonia soror shrimp.
This Echinaster had not only a Zenopontonia soror commensal but also its cousin Zenopontonia rex, which is more often found on nudibranchs or sea cucumbers.
Created 6 February 2021
Updated 13 July 2024