{{Short description|Species of starfish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Psilaster andromeda - Oslo Zoological Museum - IMG 9090.jpg | genus = Psilaster | species = andromeda | authority = J. Müller & Troschel, 1842<ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author=Mah, Christopher |year=2013 |title=''Psilaster andromeda'' (Müller & Troschel, 1842) |id=123908 |accessdate=2014-01-09|db=}}</ref> | synonyms = *''Archaster andromeda''<small> Möbius & Butschli, 1875</small> *''Archaster christi''<small> (Düben & Koren, 1846)</small> *''Asterias aranciata''<small> Parelius, 1768</small> *''Astropecten christi''<small> Düben & Koren, 1846</small> *''Goniopecten chisti''<small> Perrier, 1885</small> }} {{Commons category|Psilaster andromeda}}
'''''Psilaster andromeda''''' is a species of starfish in the family Astropectinidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean where it occurs at abyssal depths.
==Distribution and habitat== ''Psilaster andromeda'' is a deep water species of starfish native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Murmansk and the coasts of Norway to the Faeroes, the Kattegat, the United Kingdom and the Bay of Biscay. It is present in the Rockall Trough.<ref name=Asteroidea>{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/asteroidea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=125202 |title=''Psilaster andromeda andromeda'' (Müller & Troschel, 1842) |author=Mah, Christopher |work=World Asteroidea database |accessdate=2014-01-09}}</ref> It is found in Norwegian fiords on muddy bottoms at depths of {{convert|60|to|80|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Jespersen/> It is also found in the Porcupine Seabight and on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the Northeast Atlantic at much greater depths.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Howell, Kerry L. |author2=Billett, David S. M. |author3=Tyler, Paul A. |year=2002 |title=Depth-related distribution and abundance of seastars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Porcupine Seabight and Porcupine Abyssal Plain, N.E. Atlantic |journal=Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers |volume=49 |issue=10 |pages=1901–1920 |doi=10.1016/S0967-0637(02)00090-0 }}</ref>
==Biology== ''Psilaster andromeda'' is a carnivore, detritivore and omnivore.<ref name=Asteroidea/> It mainly feeds on molluscs such as ''Abra''. ''Nucula'', ''Rissoa'' and ''Tellina'', echinoderms, foraminifera, and sometimes crustaceans and annelids.<ref>{{cite book |title=Echinoderm nutrition |last1=Jangoux |first1=Michel |last2=Lawrence |first2=John M. |year=1982 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9789061910800 |page=123 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXxSdaYWPG4C&q=Psilaster+andromeda&pg=PA646 }}</ref>
The gonads of ''Psilaster andromeda'' are located at the base of the arms and each one opens through a single gonopore. Fewer than 300 small oocytes are produced by each gonad. Some of these are phagocytosed and others are supplied with yolks and grow in size before being spawned.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tylera, P. A. |author2=Pain, S. L. |year=1982 |title=The reproductive biology of ''Plutonaster bifrons'', ''Dytaster insigns'' and ''Psilaster andromeda'' (Asteroidea: Astropectinidae) from the Rockall Trough |journal=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=869–887 |doi=10.1017/S0025315400070405 }}</ref>
A parasitic turbellarian ''Triloborhynchus psilastericola'' is often present in the coelom of the starfish and when the worm is approaching maturation, it moves into the pyloric caeca and at the same time loses all its cilia.<ref name=Jespersen>{{cite journal |author1=Jespersen, Å. |author2=Lützen, J. |year=1972 |title=''Triloborhynchus psilastericola'' n. sp., a parasitic turbellarian (Fam. Pterastericolidae) from the starfish ''Psilaster andromeda'' (Müller and Troschel) |journal=Zeitschrift für Morphologie der Tiere |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=290–298 |doi=10.1007/BF00280168 |s2cid=25425527 }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/search/all/?term=Psilaster%20andromeda National Center for Biotechnology Information search] * [http://data.gbif.org/species/13727411/ Global Biodiversity Information Facility entry]
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andromeda Category:Starfish described in 1842