Leptasterias tenera is an
ambush predator. It remains stationary on the seabed for long periods, snaring any small
crustaceans which come into contact with it, gripping them with its
tube feet and
pedicellariae and flexing its arms to transfer the
prey to its mouth. Large items are pushed as far as they will go into the pyloric stomach but only the portion inside is digested at first. A study was undertaken of the breeding behaviour of
Leptasterias tenera at
Block Island near
Rhode Island at a site about deep, where the sea floor was fine muddy sand. The area was dominated by the presence of tube-building
amphipods and there were some
bivalve molluscs.
Leptasterias tenera was the most numerous predatory species but also present were other starfish
Asterias forbesi and
Asterias rubens and the Jonah crab
Cancer borealis. Up to twelve
Leptasterias tenera were found per square metre (ten per square yard). Examination of the stomach contents showed that the main items of diet were the numerous amphipods. Breeding took place in the winter. The
eggs were large, yolky and few in number. The fertilised eggs were at first retained within the pyloric stomach of the female where the embryos underwent the first stages of their development. Later they emerged and the
brachiolaria larvae were brooded underneath the arched disc of the starfish. The breeding season lasted about four months, but it was unclear for how long any individual female brooded her young. While brooding, feeding either stopped or was restricted but a few brooding females were found to have prey items in their pyloric stomachs. ==References==