Bat Star

At a glance

Bat Star (Patiria miniata) is an echinoderm present across the CatchRules coverage area but without species-specific bag, size, or season rules tracked in our regulatory dataset.

Confirmed by 20,697 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with California, British Columbia, and Oregon the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Bat stars have webbed arms resembling a bat's wings, unlike the free-tipped arms of most sea stars.
• They are unusually omnivorous, eating algae, detritus, and carrion — rare among sea stars.
• Coloration varies dramatically between individuals — the same species appears orange, red, purple, or mottled.
• They usually have 5 arms but occasionally develop as many as 9.
• Bat stars range from Alaska to Baja California and are among the most common West Coast intertidal sea stars.

Where Bat Star are seen

• California19,611 iNat obs
• British Columbia950 iNat obs
• Oregon107 iNat obs
• Alaska21 iNat obs
• Washington7 iNat obs
• Nevada1 iNat obs

Background

Patiria miniata, the bat star, sea bat, webbed star, or broad-disk star, is a species of sea star in the family Asterinidae. It typically has five arms, with the center disk of the animal being much wider than the stubby arms are in length. Although the bat star usually has five arms, it sometimes has as many as nine. Bat stars occur in many colors, including green, purple, red, orange, yellow…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Bat Star article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other starfish/urchins/cucumbers on CatchRules

• Atlantic Rock-boring UrchinEchinometra lucunter
• Atlantic Long-spined Sea UrchinDiadema antillarum
• Banded Brittle StarOphionereis annulata