Astropecten jonstoni is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. Starfishes of genus Astropecten live on mobile seabed (sandy, muddy or gravel seabed) and they remain largely buried under sediment during the day. During the late afternoon and the night starfishes go out to hunt mainly bivalve molluscs, which are their favourite preys. Unlike other Astropecten, this species is active and easy to find during day, especially in early morning and late afternoon. However, if they perceive a danger or if they are disturbed, in this case by a diver who is snorkelling as you can see in the video we are showing you, they tend to get covered up quickly. This species lives only in the Mediterranean Sea and it prefers sandy seabed at low depths as between 1 and 12 m.

The Basket Star is characterized by five tentacles, each branched several times, with which it clings to the branches of the soft corals and which are opened at night to feed on. The body has a diameter that can reach 8 centimeters, with the complete opening of the tentacles the maximum width of the entire animal can reach 80 centimeters. It feeds passively with the open tentacles, in particular of planktonic microparticles.