Protoreaster linckii

mummified Protoreaster lincki for curios trade in Tanzania. Such practice contributes to the rarefaction of this species.

P. linckii grows to a maximum diameter of 12 in (30 cm). It has numerous tubercles located along its five arms. These tubercles are bright red and extend upward from the arms. It has a gray body with red stripes that connect the tubercles. This creates an appearance of a grid made of interconnecting wires.[5]

The skeleton is composed of many calcareous ossicles and spicules. They are located inside the layer of connective tissue. This skeleton supports the large central disk.[6]

It is distributed in the western Indo-Pacific[7][8] in locations ranging from shallow tidal pools to reefs up to 100 m (330 ft) deep.[9]

The red-knobbed starfish can only be found in the ocean, in the Indian Ocean, mostly in the areas surrounding Indonesia, the Maldives, and Africa. They prefer sandy or muddy seabeds because it is easier for them to search and forage for food. While they are most often seen in shallow tidal pools, they can live in a variety of depths, down to 100 feet. Red-knobbed starfish are carnivorous animals that eat a number of sea creatures.

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  In Kenya.
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  Close to a dead Astropyga radiata
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  Drying

P. linckii is active in the nightime.[10] It is a popular aquarium specimen, but is considered incompatible with many other invertebrates, as it will eat soft corals, sponges, tube worms, clams, other starfish, and the like.[11]

It is also a heavily fished species for the curios trade.

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