The common name is Bahama or Cushion Sea Star. One of the most interesting things about the cushion sea star is the way it eats. The Cushion sea star pry’s clams or shellfish open and releases its intestine by pushing them out of its body like a spray of silly string and digests its food outside of its body and when it’s done it draws its intestine into itself.

In warmer ”tropical” areas, out of season spawning can happen throughout the year. Sea Stars’ eggs are buoyant and float around on the current. The larvae are not buoyant and will settle in seagrass beds. Sexual maturity is reached at 12 mm in size rather than period.

While the Bahama Sea Star is not on the IUCN Red List, CITES appendices, or the United States Endangered Species List yet, it is protected in the Caribbean because of overexploitation by souvenir hunters.