Starfish and Sea Urchins

A common sunstar hunting on maerl (a pink calcareous algae) as brittlestars flee

Photo, Alexander Mustard/2020VISION

Starfish and Sea Urchins

The Stars of the Show

Starfish, sea urchins, brittlestars and also sea cucumbers are in a group (phylum) called the echinoderms, meaning ‘spiny-skinned’.

Not all starfish look like the classic five-armed version we might imagine; click on the pictures below to find out more.

Spiny starfish