This large sea star is not as stiff and rigid as other species and comes in various colors. It lives from the low intertidal zone down to a depth of about 1500 feet, but we sometimes see it higher in the intertidal zone. It is a fast and voracious predator, eating almost any other critter it can find, including other sea stars. Sunflower stars spawn in spring, often in May and June. The reproductive organs are in the arms and open to the outside near the bases of the arms. Standing on the tips of their arms, or bracing themselves in a vertical position, males and females broadcast clouds of their sperm and eggs to the ocean currents. Some observers report that most of the sunflower stars in an area spawn within a few days of each other. Fertilization occurs when sperm and egg encounter each other as they float in the water. There is no parental care. The larvae swim around for up to nine or ten weeks, when they become juvenile five-armed sea stars. More arms are added as they grow, sometimes numbering over twenty.
• Mary F. Willson is a retired professor of ecology.
