Pentaceraster cumingi  (Oreasteridae)  

DISTRIBUTION: Mexico along the Pacific side of Baja California south of Magdalena Bay, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the Mexican mainland south to Guatemala and the Galápagos Islands. 

HABITAT:  found over sandy bottoms to 500 feet.

APPEARANCE: red, orange to blue green body with wide red spines reaching a maximum of just over 1 foot in size.

DIET: Micro-fauna in the substrate, benthic algae, and other echinoderms.  

Mouth and tube feet on ventral surface (photo below).

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