Ophidiaster ophidianus, the purple starfish, is a species of starfish from the East Atlantic (from mainland Portugal and the Azores down to the Gulf of Guinea) and the Mediterranean Sea.

[2][3] It has a big variation in colour (from red to orange) and may present brown spots.

[4][5] The central disc is small, covered by irregular plates,[6] and the arms are thinner near the central disc.

Each arm has lines of respiratory papillae.

[7] It can reach 40 cm in diameter.