Do you know your Stars ?

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:07 pm

It would seems I am a big fan of Sea Stars and Sun Flower Stars.
I have more pictures of them then any thing else I think

and I must admit I am getting to were I can ID about 5 or 6 differant Sea Stars. Not to shabby for not realy trying to.

here is the rub I have a few I cant ID and its is driving me bonkers

not to mention I have noticed some of them have raised collored bumbs on them and I have no idea what they are for so lets see if any of you are S. S G s or not
by the way S S G would of corse stand for
yep you guessed it
Scuba Star Gaers

I am thinking maybe Blood Stars but the bumps are a puzzle to me

Do Sea Stars get the Mumps?

Sparky

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:26 am

Sparky, those are Mottled Sea Stars, or False Ochre stars. Don't know the scientific name off the top of my head. These guys are all over the place - pretty common star and come in a variety of colors.

- Janna

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:26 pm

Janna is a walking (swimming?) encyclopedia of marine life

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:51 pm

Sparky, it's good to hear that somebody else is fascinated with the starfish. I still haven't gotten tired of looking at the numbers of species we have, and the different places you find them.

It isn't until you go dive somewhere like Hawaii or the Caribbean that you realize how incredibly rich the PNW is with echinoderms. Our "boring" starfish are unusual things to spot in some environments!

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:31 pm

I was surprised at how few starfish I saw in the Red Sea.

Whenever we'd see one it would be a big deal and the Divemaster / Instructors would get all excited.

We really do have tons of different ones here in Puget Sound and the Northwest.

I'm tempted to post a few pics, but, but this is a PNW Marine Life forum!

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:13 pm

no by all means Tom Share I started this thread to see if there were any more SSG ( Scuba Star Gazers ) out there or if i was the only one.

here is one of my favorite finds
" I found this little fella fighting for his life out on the Reef "

ok so not realy but I just like that line from Finding Nemo

I found this Cokie Star at Sund Rock.
I have seen a few of these and it always struck me at how small they are the bigest one I ever seen was only about the sise of a Quarter
and that would be pussing the sise envelope a little bit

Sparky

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:45 am

Tom Nic wrote:I was surprised at how few starfish I saw in the Red Sea.

Whenever we'd see one it would be a big deal and the Divemaster / Instructors would get all excited.

We really do have tons of different ones here in Puget Sound and the Northwest.

I'm tempted to post a few pics, but, but this is a PNW Marine Life forum!

lol that'll make me laugh if they get excited at starfish when I go..

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:28 am

Chris wrote:
Tom Nic wrote:I was surprised at how few starfish I saw in the Red Sea.

Whenever we'd see one it would be a big deal and the Divemaster / Instructors would get all excited.

We really do have tons of different ones here in Puget Sound and the Northwest.

I'm tempted to post a few pics, but, but this is a PNW Marine Life forum!
lol that'll make me laugh if they get excited at starfish when I go..

Heck, I'd be so excited just to BE in the Red Sea I could hardly stand it!