The scientific name is Pycnopodia helianthoides . Pycnopodia , meaning dense feet, refers to the thousands of tube-like suckers on the underside of each arm. Helianthoides means resembling a sunflower. Scuba divers see this species quite commonly, but you can also find it occasionally at the water's edge or in quiet pools during a low tide. It may also turn up on the end of your fishing line or in a crab trap baited with dead fish.
Most sea stars are carnivorous and their diet is restricted to a few items.
But the diet of the Sunflower Star includes numerous species such as sea urchins, clams, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, sand dollars and sometimes abalone. This varied diet enables the Sunflower Star to forage and feed in various habitats from mud to solid rock, and from the intertidal zone to a maximum depth of 435 metres. However, it seldom frequents the intertidal zone because its soft flabby body would quickly dry out in the sun. Even clams, which lie hidden in the bottom sediments, are not safe from the Sunflower Star. Once this efficient hunter detects the siphon hole of a clam, it excavates the clam, protrudes its stomach, envelops the entire clam and digests it.