Fromia elegans, also known as the Little Red Star, is a type of starfish.
It’s part of a big group of starfish called the Goniasteridae family.
Where Can We Find Fromia elegans?
Fromia elegans lives in the Indo-West Pacific. This means it can be found in places like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia.
Scientists have seen Fromia elegans at latitudes from -27.5 to 26.6 and longitudes from 32.7 to 159.6.
What Is the Habitat of Fromia elegans?
Fromia elegans starfish like to live in water that’s between 75.164°F and 84.117°F.
These starfish are found at various depths, from just 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) below the surface all the way down to 55 meters (180 ft).
How Does Fromia elegans Reproduce?
Asexual Reproduction
Like other members of the Asteroidea class, Fromia elegans can reproduce both asexually and sexually.
In asexual reproduction, this starfish can regenerate or clone itself. This means it can create a copy of itself!
Sexual Reproduction
In sexual reproduction, Fromia elegans starfish has two genders (gonochoric). The life cycle starts when embryos hatch into larvae that float around in the water (planktonic larvae).
These larvae then change (metamorphose) into young sea stars with short arms (pentamorous juveniles).
What Is the History of Fromia elegans?
The first time someone wrote about this species of sea star was in 1921. A man named H. L. Clark called it Fromia elegans.
Later, in 1938, a person named Engel thought he found more of these starfish. But another person, Hayashi, studied Engel’s collection and said they were actually Fromia indica, not Fromia elegans.
Are Fromia elegans and Fromia indica the Same?
In 1971, A. M. Clark disagreed with Hayashi. He thought there were enough differences between some of the starfish to say they were different species.
He suggested that Engel’s 1938 starfish might have actually been Fromia indica mistaken for Fromia elegans. But in 1977, Marsh wasn’t sure about this and didn’t have evidence to support it.
Today, Engel’s description is considered to be the same as Fromia indica. But H. L. Clark’s description of Fromia elegans is accepted as a full species.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Valvatida |
| Family: | Goniasteridae |
| Genus: | Fromia |
| Scientific Name: | Fromia elegans |
| Also Known As: | Little Red Star |
| Conservation Status: | Unknown |