Leather star

Description:

5 (rarely 6) broad arms with a smooth, slippery surface. Aboral surface mottled reddish brown with greenish-grey margins. Oral side pale and smooth. Smells garlic-like. To 30 cm (12 in) across.Eats a wide variety of prey, depending on the locale. On the open coast it consumes PLUMOSE ANEMONES and tunicates; in sheltered areas it eats ORANGE SEA PENS, SEA VASE TUNICATES*, encrusting sponges and bryozoans.

Habitat:

Alaska to southern California; intertidal to 91 m (299 ft). These are in the Aquarium of the Bay, SF.