Stegnaster inflatus
Invertebrate
Echinodermata
Asteroidea
Asterinidae
5 short webbed arms. Upper surface bright orange mottled with brown.
Subtidal, rocky reefs.
A predator with an unsual method of prey capture. It stands on the ends of the arms, arching the "body" away from the rocks. When a suitable prey item crawls into the "cave" thus formed, the seastar ambushes it by dropping onto it!