---
title: "Common Sea Star"
description: "Asterias rubens — Outros animais. The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish (Asterias rubens) is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/common-sea-star
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common Sea Star

> Asterias rubens — Outros animais. The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish (Asterias rubens) is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic.

- Scientific name: *Asterias rubens*
- Category: `other` (Outros animais)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mar e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 8061
- Wikidata: [Q21120](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21120)
- iNaturalist taxon: [120138](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/120138)

## Names

- en: Common Sea Star
- de: Gemeiner Seestern
- fr: Étoile de mer commune
- nl: Gewone zeester
- pl: Rozgwiazda czerwona

## Countries with the most observations

GB (1596), US (767), DK (746), CA (707), NO (482), NL (480), FR (468), DE (435), SE (203), PT (175), IE (169), RU (130)

## Summary

The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish (Asterias rubens) is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens (up to 52 cm across) are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brownish in color, and sometimes violet; specimens found in deeper waters are pale. The common starfish is found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on mollusks and other benthic invertebrates.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starfish

## Photo

![Common Sea Star](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-sea-star/medium.jpg)

Photo: Maynard Case · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/179823058

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-sea-star?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).