Identification Photos: Panamic Cushion Star, Pentaceraster cumingi: The Panamic Cushion Star is characterized by its robust arms covered with bright red spines with an overall grey body. It reaches a maximum size of about 12 inches and is found over sandy bottoms to depths of 500 feet.

The Panamic Cushion Star feeds on microfauna, bethic algae, seagrass and other echinoderms. It is present in 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. The Panamic Cushion Star is the most abundant starfish at scuba depths in the central and lower Sea of Cortez.

The Panamic Cushion Star is a common member of the Echinoderm phylum of marine animals and is a member of the Asteroidea Class and the Oreasteridae Family. The echinoderms include brittle stars, sea cucumbers, sea lilies, starfish, and urchins and are of great scientific interest because, via fossil records, they date to the Cambrian Age over 500 million years ago, with species numbering 7,000 living and 13,000 extinct.

The Starfish or Sea Stars have a unique water-vascular system that uses hydraulic power to operate a multitude of tiny tube feet that are used in locomotion and food capture. Some feed via extruding the stomach out through the mouth surrounding the prey, secreting enzymes to digest the food, and then retracting the stomach when finished eating.

They exist from intertidal zones to depths of several miles with 1,500 species known globally. The bodies are flattened, flexible and covered with colored skin.

Panamic Cushion Star, Pentaceraster cumingi: Donated to Mexfish.com by the commercial panguero Mexican fishermen of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, June 2007. Size 10 inches. Description and photos courtesy of John Snow.