The leather sea star, Dermasterias imbricata, ranges from Cook Inlet, Alaska, to central California in the low intertidal, shallow subtidal zone. Because it exudes a mucous, it is slippery to the touch. It does not have spines, but six-eight rows of papulae on each of its five rays.

Scientific name: Greek derma (skin, leather) a ia (a state of being); Latin imbricatus (covered with tiles or scales).

Digital photo by Jan Haaga. References (a complete list) in the text include: Kessler (1985) or Barr (1983).

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