The Astropecten articulatus, more commonly known as the Royal Starfish, is a West Atlantic sea star of the family Astropectinidae.

The Royal Starfish feeds by swallowing its food whole and digesting it in its stomach, like other members of the genus Astropecten.

From the previous study, in all of the 124 sea stars combined, there were a total of 91 species of organisms found in their stomachs.

[4] The study also found that the sea star consumes the mollusk shell regardless of whether or not the original organism is still inside.

The fact that the scientists found parts of Royal Starfishes in their stomachs means that they can be considered cannibals, which is also the case for their relative A. irregularis.

This means that the sea star prefers to consume the organism that would provide it with the most net energy gain for the shortest time, and therefore forages optimally.

The scientists also found that Royal Starfishes exhibit directional movement when prey are not present in their surroundings.

Lastly, the study found that the sea star forages twice a day, at dawn and dusk, which is similar to other species in the Astropecten genus.