Sun Starfish (Solaster paxillatus)

Japanese: ニチリンヒトデ(日輪海星) - ニチリンヒトデ（英語表記）Solaster paxillatus

An echinoderm of the family Acanthidae. It is found from the Tohoku region to the North Pacific Ocean, living on the seafloor at depths of 200 to 700 meters. Its entire body is dark brown, with 8 to 12 (mostly 9) thick arms radiating out from a large central disk. The arms are about 7 cm long. Both the disk and arms are densely covered with many prismatic bodies. The ventral surface is pale yellow. The closely related species, S. borealis , has slightly thinner arms, and the lower marginal plates lined up on the sides of the arms are very prominent. There is also S. uchidai .

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ヒトデ綱ニチリンヒトデ科の棘皮（きよくひ）動物。東北地方から北太平洋に分布し，水深200～700mの海底にすむ。全体は暗褐色で，中心にある大きな盤から8～12本(9本が多い)の太い腕が放射状にでる。腕の長さは約7cm。盤，腕ともに多くの小柱体で密におおわれている。腹面は淡黄色。近縁種のアカニチリンヒトデS.borealisは腕がやや細く，腕の側方に並んでいる下縁板は非常に顕著。ほかにウチダニチリンヒトデS.uchidaiもある。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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