Field Notes
No. 06
No. 06
Burrowing Sand Anemone and Common Starfish
31st December 2025
31st December 2025
You can probably tell that I'm only now catching up with my blog after what has been a full-on year. I can't hope to capture all of my thoughts but I wanted to find a home for these little ones, found on the afternoon of NYE on the beach at Brancaster. Look at the light, though, too.
At a glance
SpeciesCommon Starfish
Latin nameAsterias rubens
FamilyAsteriidae
SizeDiameter 10–30cm, occasionally up to 50cm
HabitatRockpools and shores all round the UK, to depths of 600m+
SpeciesBurrowing Sand Anemone
Latin nameEdwardsia claparedii
FamilyEdwardsiidae
SizeColumn up to 120mm long
HabitatBurrows in mud or sand, often in eel-grass beds
Key facts
- The starfish can regenerate lost arms and has an eye spot at the tip of each one
- It feeds by prising open shellfish and digesting them externally with its own stomach
- The anemone burrows in sediment, showing only its disc and tentacles above the surface, and retracts very quickly when disturbed
Member comments