#4915 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Sand Sea Star
🇳🇱 Kamster ·Astropecten irregularis
🪼 Jellyfish, starfish, worms & co 📍 in the Netherlands
📍 Lancashire, England, GB
📍 pmb reef Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa
📍 France
📍 Newbiggin-By-The-Sea, England, GB
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © elegaer · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Emil B · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Lancashire, England, GB:© jsardell · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. pmb reef Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa:© Georgina Jones · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. France:© Killian Marcel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Newbiggin-By-The-Sea, England, GB:© hjcormack · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Astropecten irregularis is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. Common names include Sand sea star (P. i. pontoporeus).
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 12 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 755 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Thomas Pennant in 1777 (249 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Sand Sea Star
- Nederlands
- Kamster
- scientific name
- Astropecten irregularis
- class
- Asteroidea
- order
- Paxillosida
- family
- Astropectinidae
- sightings in NL
- 12
- sightings in Europe
- 570
- sightings worldwide
- 755
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1777 by Thomas Pennant
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 461704, Wikidata Q1749115, GBIF 5186572, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.