NEWS107
12
all echinodermsmustbe transportedunder
water,asotherwiseair canget into their sto-
machsandprove fatal inthe longterm.
Sea-starshaveseparatesexesbutthesecan-
notbetoldapartexternally.Althoughmales
remain smaller than females, this informa-
tion isof littleuse inpractice,soanyonewho
wants to breed them should buy several
specimensas itwill thenbestatisticallypro-
Archastertypicus
growstoupto25cmacross
andcomes from the Indo-Pacific.Thegenus
Archaster
contains threespecies,
A.angulatus
,
A.lorioli
,and
A.typicus
,whichalllookverysimi-
lar.Itcanprobablybeassumedthatasarule it
is
A.typicus
,whichisthemostwidespreadspe-
ciesof thegenus,that isseen inthetrade.It is
collected forexport in thePhilippines inpar-
ticular.Maintenanceisproblem-free,although
itmust alwaysbe strictlyborne inmind that
Sand-SiftingSea-Star,
Archaster typicus
Literatur:
Bos,A.,Gumanao,G.S.,vanKatwijk,M.M.,
Mueller,B.,Saceda,M.M.&R.L.P.Tejada
(2011):Ontogenetichabitat shift,population
growth,andburrowingbehaviorof the Indo-
Pacificbeach star,Archaster typicus (Echino-
dermata;Asteroidea).MarineBiology158 (3):
639–648.
Bos,A.R.,Gumanao,G.S.,Mueller,B.&M.M.Sa-
ceda (2012):Sizeatmaturation,sexdiffe-
rences,andpairdensityduring themating
seasonof the Indo-Pacificbeach starArcha-
ster typicus (Echinodermata:Asteroidea) in
thePhilippines. InvertebrateReproduction&
Development:1-7
bable that the group contains both sexes.
Even so thereare todateno reports of the
successful breedingof this sea-star species
in thehome aquarium.However there is a
bodyof scientific literatureon thegenus in
whichaquarists interested inbreeding this
typeofsea-starwill findahostof interesting
information. For example,
Archaster
are
noted formating in large assemblies,with
themalesclamberingonto thebacksof the
femalesandperformingpseudocopulation.
Anyonewho isespecially interested should
consultBosetal.2011and2012.
Thesea-starsclamberoveroneanotherpriortomating.This istermedpseudocopulation.
