Star Net Basket Sea Star, Astrodictyum panamense

Star Net Basket Sea Star, Astrodictyum panamense. Size: 12 cm (4.7 inches). Basket star provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, September 2009.

The Star Net Basket Sea Star, Astrodictyum panamense (Verrill, 1867), is a member of the Gorgoncephalidae Family of Basket Stars, that is also known as the Ringed Basket Star, Panamic Basket Star and Gulf Miniature Basked Star. They are brown in color with closely spaced whitish band encircling each arm. When contracted they appear like a pile of interwoven brown caterpillars. When the arms are extended, they branch many times between the central disk and their terminus, a distance of about 30 cm (12 inches).

Star Net Basket Sea Stars are found on sand, rock, and coral. They are often associated with octocorals, and are frequently intertwined in the branches of the Red Gorgonian, Eugorgia daniana. They are nocturnal emerging at night for feeding. They are found at depths between 3 m (10 feet) and 183 m (600 feet). They range from the Bahia Tortuga, Baja California Sur, to Ecuador, including the Coco and Revillagigedo Islands. They are found throughout the entire Sea of Cortez.

Synonyms are Astrophyton panamense, Astrocaneum panamense, and Gorgoncephalus panamense.