realmonstrosities:

Hey, look! It’s a starfish. A starfish that doesn’t look like a fish OR a star.

The Cushion Star (Culcita) is a peculiar, Indo-Pacific starfish.

The very biggest ones might reach as much as a foot across and they look like they might reach almost as tall!

They’re so ridiculously bloated you can’t actually discern their arms. They just look like a big blob hanging out on the corals and sponges they eat.

The cool thing is they come in a vast array of colours, from reds and yellows to blues and greys, so there’s a Cushion Star for every sofa!

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Images: Patrick Randall/John Turnbull/James Lynott/Ed Bierman