seastar Acodontaster hodgsoni

Acodontaster hodgsoni is found throughout Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Sandwich Islands, and South Georgia Island between 4 and 540 meters depth [2,3,4,5].


Acodontaster hodgsoni has been collected at sizes up to twenty centimeters in radius from its center to the tip of an arm [2].


Acodontaster hodgsoni is shown on the left compared to A. conspicuus on the right.

Acodontaster hodgsoni is a predator of the sponges Haliclona dancoi, Calyx arcuarius, Rossella racovitzae, and Haliclona tenella [1].


As shown here, Acodontaster hodgsoni lacks the pincer-like pedicellariae alongside its underside spines, which are present on A. conspicuus [2].

Predators of Acodontaster hodgsoni include the seastar Odontaster validus, the nemertean worm Parborlasia corrugatus, and the anemone Urticinopsis antarcticus [1].

At left is a gang attack on an Acodontaster sp. by the y seastar Odontaster validus with the nemertean proboscis worm Parborlasia corrugatus in the foreground.


A gang attack eventually slows the larger Acodontaster seastar's movement, more Odontaster validus join the attack, and the large nemertean proboscis worm Parborlasia corrugatus will join on the feeding as well.

1: Ecological Monographs 44(1):105-128, 1974; 2: The Fauna of the Ross Sea, Part 3, Asteroidea. HES Clark. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 151, New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Memoir 21, 1963; 3: Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Biologie 63:175-184, 1993; 4: Discovery Reports 20:115, 1941; 5: U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Dept of Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology Collections database http://goode.si.edu/webnew/pages/nmnh/iz/Query.php

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Paul Cziko & Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Paul Cziko & Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?