Odontaster validus is the commonest and most abundant sea star inhabiting the shallow environment around the Antarctic continent (Dearborn, 1977; McClintock et al., 1988).
Bosch I. & Pearse J.S. 1990. Developmental types of shallow-water asteroids of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Marine Biology 104, 41–46.
Bernasconi I. 1970. Equinodermos Antarticos. II. Asteroideos. 5. Asteroideos de la Extremidad Norte de la Peninsula Antartica. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Zoologia 9(10), 211-281.
Chia F.S. 1970. Reproduction of Arctic marine invertebrates. Marine Pollution Bulletin 1, 78-79.
Clark A.M. 1962. Asteroidea. BA NZ Antarctic Research Expedition 1929-1931. Report 9.
Clark H.S. 1963. The Fauna of the Ross Sea: 3, Asteroidea.. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 151, 1-84.
Conlan K.E., Rau G.H. & Kvitek R.G. 2006. δ13C and δ15N shifts in benthic invertebrates exposed to sewage from McMurdo Station, Antartica. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52, 1695-1707.
Dearborn J.H. 1977. Foods and feeding characteristics of Antarctic asteroids and ophiuroids. In: G.A. Llano (Ed.) Adaptations within Antarctic ecosystems. Gulf Publishing, Houston, 293-326.
McClintock J.B., Pearse J.S. & Bosch I. 1988. Population structure and energetics of the shallow-water Antarctic sea star Odontaster validus in contrasting habitats. Marine Biology 99, 235-246.
Pearse J.S. 1969. Slow developing demersal embryos and larvae of the Antarctic sea star Odontaster validus. Marine Biology 3, 110-116.
Pearse J.S., Bosch I., McClintock J.B., Marinovic B. & Britton R. 1986. Contrasting tempos of reproduction by shallow-water animals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Antarct J. US 31, 182–184.
Photos
Species distribution
O. validus is distributed throughout Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia Island, Shag Rocks, Marion and Prince Edward Islands, and Bouvet Island at depths from 0 to 914 meters (Clark, 1962; Clark, 1963; Bernasconi, 1970)
Odontaster validus has a late sexual maturity and slow rate of growth. This starfish may grow only 1-2 g year-1, takes 3-6 years to reach sexual maturity (Pearse, 1969). O. validus may live for about 100 years (Pearse, 1969). The starfish O. validus has a demersal feeding larva with a brief pelagic phase to allow the dispersion without exposing the larvae to the hazardous surface waters. The larval development of Odontaster is extremely slow; it remains in the bipinnaria larval stage for about 2 months in the laboratory condition (Chia, 1970). In McMurdo Sound the period of spawning is from June to mid October (Pearse et al., 1986; Bosch & Pearse, 1990). O. validus is an omnivorous. Its diet includes the bivalves Limatula hodgsoni and Laternula elliptica, the sponges Rossella racovitzae, Rossella nuda, Scolymastra joubini, Tetilla leptoderma, and Homaxinella balfourensis, the hydroid Halecium arboreum, the sea star Acodontaster conspicuus, the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri, the isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus, bryozoans, suspended matter, animal dtritus, red algae, amphipods, crustacean nauplii larvae, ostracods, shrimp, ectoprocts, diatoms, and seal feces (Conlan et al., 2006). O. validus is prey of the sea anemone Urticinopsis antarcticus and the sea star Macroptycaster accrescens (Conlan et al., 2006).