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The red starfish in this video – Echinaster sepositus – was filmed on a seabed of about 5 meters deep while free-diving, in the waters of the beautiful “Secche di Vada“. We often visit these areas near the lighthouse for various reasons: the exceptional transparency of the water, the shallow depth, the presence of Posidonia oceanica that despite the frequent anchoring of boats seems to thrive and the distance from the chaotic and crowded coast in summer. Mediterranean Red Starfish Echinaster sepositus Stella marina rossa www.intotheblue.it
Mediterranean Red Starfish Echinaster sepositus www.intotheblue.it
We are in the “Cervello” (brain) area about 500 meters northwest of the famous lighthouse or “Vada lighthouse” a lighthouse that signals to ships and boats passing through the area an isolated danger of shallow waters, dangerous for navigation. The name “Cervello” is due to the alternation of rock and Posidonia on the seabed so much so that it looks like a brain.
Stella marina rossa www.intotheblue.it – Il faro delle Secche di Vada
Mediterranean Red Starfish Echinaster sepositus Stella marina rossa www.intotheblue.it
Despite the support boat we dived with the dive balloon, even if far from the coast the area is in fact populated by numerous boats that anchor on the shoals or simply pass nearby, so precautions are never too many.
Red starfish (Echinaster sepositus Retzius, 1783) is an echinoderm of the Echinasteridae family, very common in the Mediterranean Sea.
Echinaster sepositus Stella marina rossa www.intotheblue.it
Characteristics
Typical bright red color, darker on the back and lighter below. Five arms of equal length, characterized by small depressions. The depressions take on a generally darker color. The ambulacral pedicels are light orange. It can reach a maximum size of 30 centimeters.
Distribution
Common throughout the Mediterranean Sea up to 200 meters deep, it can be found both along the surface of rocks and among meadows of posidonia, in any case not at temperatures above 22 °C.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinaster_sepositus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinaster_sepositus
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