Real Starfish (Flatbottom Seastar - Asterias amurensis)  specimen encased in indestructible, transparent lucite keychain. Safe, authentic and completely unbreakable product put real Starfish right at your fingertips!

Length of the Starfish body is 1.7 cm (0.7 inch) . 

Size of the lucite block is 4.5x3.1x1.5 cm (1.8x1.2x0.6 inch).

Weight of the keychain is 21 g and 35 g with packing box.

It is a beautiful keychain and is also a very good collectible item for every body.

This is a handmade real animal specimen craft. Each one will be a bit different (specimen size, color and posture) even in the same production batch.
The pictures in the listing are just for reference as we are selling multiple pieces with same pictures.

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Flatbottom Seastar - Asterias amurensis

Order: Forcipulatida
Family: Asteriidae
Genus: Asterias

Taxonomic name: Asterias amurensis
Common names: Flatbottom seastar, Japanese Seastar, Japanese starfish, Nordpazifischer Seestern (German), North Pacific seastar, northern Pacific seastar, purple-orange seastar
Organism type: sea star

Originally found in far north Pacific waters and areas surrounding Japan, Russia, North China, and Korea, the northern Pacific seastar (Asterias amurensis) has successfully invaded the southern coasts of Australia and has the potential to move as far north as Sydney. The seastar will eat a wide range of prey and has the potential for ecological and economic harm in its introduced range. Because the seastar is well established and abundantly widespread, eradication is almost impossible. However, prevention and control measures are being implemented to stop the species from establishing in new waters.

Description
Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastar) can grow upto 50 cm in diameter. It is yellow with red and purple pigmentation on its five arms, and a small central disk. Its distinctive characteristic is its upturned tips which are its identification key when compared to similar starfish. The undersides are completely yellow and arms are unevenly covered with small, jagged-edged spines. These spines line the groove in which the tube feet lie, and join up at the mouth in a fan-like shape.

Similar Species
Pisaster brevispinus, Pisaster giganteus, Pisaster ochraceus

Occurs in:
estuarine habitats, marine habitats

Habitat description
While Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastar) prefers waters temperatures of 7-10°C, it has adapted to warmer Australian waters of 22°C. It is typically found in shallow waters of protected coasts and is not found on reefs or in areas with high wave action. The starfish is capable of tolerating many temperatures and wide ranges of salinities. It is often found in estuaries and on mud, sand or rocky sheltered areas of intertidal zones. The maximum temperature for Asterias amurensis is 25°C and the minimum is 0°C. The salinity range for this species is between 18.7 and 41ppt, while the maximum depth at which individuals have been found is 220m.

General impacts
Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastar) has the potential to establish large populations in new areas. Estimates made in Port Philip Bay (where they were first detected), indicate that numbers reached as much as 12 million individuals in two years. In their native range they are known to go through 'bust and boom' cycles reaching high abundance and then rapid decline.

The northern Pacific seastar is a voracious feeder, preferring mussels, scallops and clams. It will eat almost anything it can find, including dead fish and fish waste. The seastar is considered a serious pest of native marine organisms. The seastar is also considered a mariculture pest, settling on scallop longlines, spat bags, mussel and oyster lines and salmon cages.

In Japan seastar outbreaks cost the mariculture industry millions of dollars.

Geographical range
Native range: Native to Japan, North China, Korea, Russia, and far North Pacific waters.
 

Nutrition
Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastar) eats bivalves, gastropod molluscs, barnacles, crabs, crustaceans, worms, echinoderms, ascidians, sea urchins, sea squirts and other seastars, including conspecifics if food source becomes exhausted.

Reproduction
Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastar) reproduces sexually and asexually. Spawning occurs between July and October in Australian waters . The female seastar is capable of carrying up to 20 million eggs. Fertilisation is external and larvae remains in a planktonic stage for up to 120 days before settling and metamorphosing into juvenile starfish. Sperm half life at 10°C > 2 hours, at 17°C < 30 minutes.

Lifecycle stages
Juvenile Asterias amurensis (northern Pacific seastars) grow up to 6mm per month in the first year and continue to grow 1 - 2mm per month until maturity. The female is able to reproduce at about 12 months of age, when they are around 10cm in diameter.

This species has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders.