Luidia senegalensis is a tropical
species of
starfish in the family
Luidiidae. It has nine long, slim tapering arms attached to a small circular central disc and grows to a diameter of about 30 to 40 centimetres (12 to 16 in). It can be found from the coasts of Florida as far south as southern Brazil, where it favours sandy, muddy or shelly
seabeds in sheltered locations such as lagoons. It feeds primarily on
molluscs, small
crustaceans, and
polychaete worms, which it swallows whole by everting its stomach and engulfing its prey.
Photograph: Andrea Westmoreland