The Chocolate Chip Star's scientific name is Protoreaster nodosus.
The chocolate chip star lives in tropical waters in the coral reefs, or on nearby sands.
Starfish can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Females can produce up to 65 million eggs per spawning season. During spawning season thousands of starfish gather and release sperm and eggs. For asexual reproduction they regenerate their body. As long as the main body is still intact they can re-grow, even if their limbs get ripped off.
It crawls on the ocean floor, feeding on corals, clams and oysters.
It comes from the phylum Echinodermata, which in Greek means spiny skin. Adult echinoderms have radial symmetry. Echinoderms do not have an external skeleton, they have and endoskeleton made of tiny calcified plates.
