First Recorded Observations of Luidia senegalensis Adults in a Northeast Florida Lagoonal Estuary

Edward J. McGinley^1,2,*, Leslie Palmer¹, Destiny Clore¹, Mike Alyea², Cindy Alyea², and Scott Lindsey²

¹Department of Natural Sciences, Flagler College, 74 King Street Saint Augustine, FL 32084. ²Coastal Marine Science, 1337 Smiling Fish Lane, St. Augustine, FL, 32080. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 23, Issue 4 (2024): N84–N89

First published early online: 18 December 2024

Abstract
On 2 dates, 15 and 17 July 2024, we deployed a 7-m otter trawl with 3-mm mesh in the Matanzas River Estuary in northeast Florida. We caught a total of 3 Luidia senegalensis (Nine-armed Sea Star) adults during 8 trawls. We measured all 3 sea stars for the maximum radius (length from tip of arm to center of aboral surface). The 3 individuals had measurements of 159, 109, and 106 mm. A single larva of this species was documented in this area during a plankton sample in 2015, but the organisms observed in the otter trawls represent the farthest north the adults have been documented.

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