Amy Deatherage
Independent researcher, Los Altos, CA, USA.
Email: amy.deatherage8 (at) gmail (dot) com
Created by Satoshi Tajiri, Pokémon is a massively successful Japanese franchise that spans video games, animated series, films, and a trading card game. The Pokémon universe within this franchise includes over 1000 fictional creatures, or Pokémon, each with an assigned number in the National Pokédex (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
Pokémon are based on an impressively diverse range of organisms (and even inanimate objects) in the real world, from plants to fungi to animals. Inspiration from the animal kingdom alone includes mammals, reptiles, fish, insects, worms, and everything in between. Among the immense diversity represented in the franchise, many Pokémon specifically take inspiration from marine invertebrates, such as molluscs (Salvador & Cavallari, 2019), crustaceans (Rosa et al., 2020), and even cnidarians (Carral-Murrieta et al., 2023). While many of these groups have already been analyzed and documented, one phylum of marine invertebrates represented in Pokémon, the echinoderms, has yet to be explored.
ECHINODERMATA BACKGROUND
The phylum Echinodermata, roughly translated to ‘spiny-skinned animals’, comprises a group of approximately 6500 exclusively marine and some brackish water organisms (Hoover, 2006; WoRMS Editorial Board, 2026). Within the phylum, there are five extant (still existing) classes of echinoderms: Asteroidea (sea stars), Ophiuroidea (brittle stars and basket stars), Echinoidea (sea urchins), Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers), and Crinoidea (sea lilies and feather stars) (Fig. 1; WoRMS Editorial Board, 2026).
Echinoderms are bilaterians, meaning they have bilateral body symmetry. However, unique to echinoderms, they also have secondary pentaradial symmetry (Fig. 1; Rozhnov, 2014). This means their body is organized into five equal sections around a central axis, similar to the structure of a five-petaled flower. In some organisms, such as brittle stars and some sea stars, this pentaradial symmetry is quite obvious and a defining element of their external body structure. However, in other organisms, such as the sea urchins and sea cucumbers, this symmetry is relatively inconspicuous from the exterior, with their pentaradial symmetry only really obvious in the organization of their internal structures.
One body system unique to echinoderms is their water vascular system – a hydraulic system that utilizes water pressure to distribute and control the movement of fluid throughout the body of an echinoderm (Zamora & Rahman, 2014). This fluid is held and controlled in a series of internal canals in the body, with special muscle-controlled structures called ampullae that can manipulate the pressure and flow of the fluid. The water vascular system enables locomotive, respiratory, circulatory, and feeding functions in echinoderms.
Echinoderms can also be characterized by the presence of endoskeletal calcareous ossicles (bone-like structural plates) covered by a layer of skin-like epithelial tissue (Pier & Smith, 2019). The size and distribution of these plates vary from class to class, with some organisms having much “squishier” and more flexible body structures, such as sea cucumbers, and others having much harder and inflexible body structures, such as sea urchins.
ECHINODERM POKÉMON
In Generations I-IX, eight Pokémon draw inspiration from members of the phylum Echinodermata (Table 1), with echinoderm-inspired Pokémon comprising approximately 0.78% of the total 1025 creatures (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Despite relatively limited representation in the overall Pokémon universe, of the five extant classes of echinoderms, four are represented as Pokémon: Asteroidea, Holothuroidea, Echinoidea, and Crinoidea. Below is a review of these echinoderm-inspired Pokémon, with a focus on comparing their in-game morphology and ecology to that of their real-world counterparts.
Class Asteroidea (sea stars)
There are four total Pokémon inspired by sea stars: Staryu (#0120) and its evolved counterpart Starmie (#0121), inspired by sea stars in general (Fig. 2), and Mareanie (#0747) and Toxapex (#0748), specifically inspired by the crown-of-thorns star (Acanthaster planci) (Fig. 3).
Staryu and Starmie
Asteroids (as in the marine organisms in the class Asteroidea, not the flying space rocks) comprise all true sea stars. They make up the largest class of extant echinoderms, with 1500 known species of sea stars worldwide (Jewett et al., 2015). With their iconic shape and presence on shorelines around the world, sea stars are certainly among the most well-known echinoderms.
Staryu and its evolution, Starmie were both introduced in the very first generation of Pokémon, Gen. I. Staryu is a Water-type Pokémon, while Starmie is a dual-type Water/Psychic Pokémon.
Staryu’s design is relatively simple, lacking anthropomorphized features like eyes and a mouth that most Pokémon have. Staryu has an unmistakable star-shaped body, with five arms protruding from a center ‘core’ (Fig. 2). Staryu’s arms are an orangey-brown color, and the core is a bright golden-yellow. The core also has a red gem-like part nestled in the center. Staryu is a benthic organism and is preyed upon by Lumineon (#0457), among other predatory Pokémon (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
A unique ability of Staryu is that, as long as the core stays intact, Staryu can fully regrow lost arms back to its original five (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Real-world sea stars have a similar ability, where they can drop and regenerate limbs when threatened (Jewett et al., 2015). This is possible because of a unique tissue in echinoderms called ‘catch tissue’, or ‘mutable collagenous tissue’ (MCT). MCT is neuronally-controlled, and enables sea stars (and some other echinoderms) to completely stiffen up their body or autotomize limbs in response to stress (Wilkie, 2001).
When exposed to a Water Stone, Staryu evolves into Starmie. Starmie’s design is similar to Staryu’s, but instead of a simple five-armed design, Starmie has 10 total arms, as if two sea stars are overlaid (Fig. 2). The back sea star is semi-attached to the front one in the center, and can spin 360 degrees. Starmie’s arms are purple and have a similar golden-yellow core to Staryu, with a larger red jewel at the center. Starmie dwells in the deep sea and feeds on plankton by absorbing them through its skin (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
Staryu’s and Starmie’s designs are very reminiscent of the morphology of real-world sea stars. Of course, the iconic five arms are a must for any traditional sea star-inspired character design, but beyond that, the core of Staryu and Starmie is quite similar to the central disc of real-world sea stars. Additionally, the gem at the center of Staryu’s or Starmie’s core is somewhat visually similar to the madreporite, the point of entry for fluids into the water vascular system (Jewett et al., 2015), which can be conspicuous on certain species of sea stars (Fig. 2). The orange and purple coloration of Staryu and Starmie, respectively, is reminiscent of the color polymorphism in ochre stars (Pisaster ochraceus), which can be found in a range of warm hues, from bright orange to bright purple.
While Staryu and Starmie both draw clear inspiration from sea stars, some behaviors of these two Pokémon do not correlate with real-world sea stars. For example, Staryu are known to float from the seafloor to the surface at night, aligning themselves with stars in space as their cores flicker (The Pokémon Company, 2026). This coordinated display of connection to the celestial bodies of space has no basis in the behavior of real-world sea stars. Additionally, the cores of Starmie can glow in the seven colors of the rainbow and emit radio signals into the night sky (The Pokémon Company, 2026). These radio signals are known to cause headaches to anyone nearby (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Again, this behavior is not at all based in real-world sea star behavior. Because of its apparent ability to communicate with non-earthly beings, Starmie is thought to be extraterrestrial.
Mareanie and Toxapex
Growing upwards of 35 cm (14 inches) in diameter with up to 21 arms, the crown-of-thorns star (Acanthaster planci) is quite a unique (and formidable) predatory sea star. They tend to be brightly colored —a clear warning to potential predators— ranging anywhere from bright purple to brown to green and yellow. Its name comes from the rows of defensive spikes, or “thorns”, that line the aboral side of these arms, resembling a crown. These highly-venomous stars are known to be relentless predators of reef-forming corals (Hoover, 2006).
Mareanie and its evolution Toxapex are both dual-type Poison/Water Pokémon, appropriately drawing inspiration from the venomous, marine crown-of-thorns star. Both Pokémon were introduced to the franchise in Gen. VII.
Mareanie has a purple, stalk-like body, with yellow eyes and three white teeth sticking out of its mouth. Ten teal, spike-covered arms grow from its head and fall over Mareanie’s body, effectively cloaking itself in these crown-of-thorns star-inspired arms (Fig. 3). On top of its head is a yellow spike, resembling its namesake, a crown. Like Staryu, Mareanie can also regenerate lost limbs (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Mareanie’s natural prey is Corsola (#0222), a coral-inspired Pokémon, and its natural predator is Bruxish (#0779), a triggerfish-inspired Pokémon (The Pokémon Company, 2026). In the real-world, triggerfish are also known to prey upon crown-of-thorns stars (Kroon et al., 2020).
Starting at Level 38, Mareanie evolves into Toxapex, which has a similar teal and purple color scheme to Mareanie. Toxapex’s tiny purple body is attached to the underside of its 12 large, spikey arms at the top of its head, and effectively uses its arms to suspend itself above the ground (Fig. 3). Its arms are light teal on the outside and dark indigo on the inside, and the spikes on its arms can protrude from the inner side or outer side, depending on the defensive position Toxapex is in. Toxapex’s 12 arms can effectively conceal the body of this Pokémon in a formidable, spikey dome, not only protecting it from its predator Bruxish, but also from desiccating in a low tide (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Like Mareanie, Toxapex also preys upon Corsola (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
In Pokémon Sun and Moon, there is a notable interaction between Corsola and Mareanie programed into the game. A gameplay mechanic unique to Sun and Moon is the “Pokémon SOS” battle, which allows enemy Pokémon to call on reinforcements for help during a battle. In these battles, Pokémon can generally only call on the same Pokémon or Pokémon from the same family for help, but there are rare instances in which certain Pokémon can call on a Pokémon from a different family. This is the case with Corsola. When battling a wild Corsola, there’s a rare chance for a Corsola calling for help to accidentally summon a Mareanie instead of another Corsola. When a Mareanie is summoned, it will use “bite” on the Corsola, effectively helping you defeat it. This is the only way to acquire a Mareanie (and its evolution Toxapex) in-game.
Crown-of-thorns stars in real life have similarly voracious behavior. The crown-of-thorns star primarily inhabits the coral reefs of Australia, but can be found wherever there are coral reefs, from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, and as far west as the Hawaiian Islands (Pratchett et al., 2017). They’re known to be fierce, relentless predators of scleractinian corals (hard or stony corals), and can effectively decimate whole reefs in large enough numbers. Crown-of-thorns star outbreaks have had notable, devastating ecological impact on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia: not only consuming and killing the corals themselves, but effectively destroying critical habitat for the thousands of diverse species that rely on these reefs for shelter, food, and nurseries (Pratchett et al., 2017; Hoover, 2006).
Class Holothuroidea (sea cucumbers)
Sea cucumbers comprise the class Holothuroidea. They are soft, fleshy filter feeders and detritivores, feeding on organic material floating in the water column using their feathery buccal podia (Fig. 4). Though in the phylum Echinodermata, the pentaradial symmetry of sea cucumbers is fairly inconspicuous. Like sea stars, sea cucumbers also have MCT, which they can use to eviscerate —eject— their internal organs in defense against predators (Hoover, 2006).
Pyukumuku
There is one Pokémon inspired by sea cucumbers: the iconic Pyukumuku (#0771) (Fig. 4). Pyukumuku is a Water-type Pokémon and was introduced in Gen. VII along with Mareanie and Toxapex. Pyukumuku has no known evolution.
With its soft, ovoid body, Pyukumuku’s design is quite similar to that of real-world sea cucumbers. This Pokémon’s body is mostly black, with two rows of pink protrusions running along its back (Fig. 4), akin to real-world sea cucumbers’ papillae. It also has small pink eyes, with a small white mouth and a white rabbit-like tail.
Pyukumuku, like a real-world sea cucumber, is known to be quite slow-moving along the seafloor. Even as the tideline recedes, Pyukumuku resting in the intertidal will opt to remain exposed to the open air instead of retreating with the out-going tide (The Pokémon Company, 2026). To retain moisture during the low tide, Pyukumuku can coat itself in a mucus layer, effectively protecting it from desiccation for up to a week. It is local knowledge in Alola that this mucus can effectively soothe sunburns (The Pokémon Company, 2026). When locals find Pyukumuku exposed in a low tide, they’ll throw them back into the ocean so that they don’t dry up, in a tradition known as ‘Pyukumuku chucking’ (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
While locals appreciate Pyukumuku, it has a reputation for being an annoying Pokémon among tourists. Unobservant tourists will often accidentally step on Pyukumuku resting along the coastline, causing it to expel white, fist-like organs through its mouth to punch the offender in defense (The Pokémon Company, 2026). This behavior is likely inspired by the white-colored Cuvierian tubules of real-world sea cucumbers. These sticky, thread-like tubules can be eviscerated from a sea cucumber’s anus and adhere strongly to anything it comes in contact with —an effective defensive strategy to entangle and immobilize unsuspecting predators (Hoover, 2006). Some species of sea cucumber can also create a potent toxin called holothurin, which can be lethal to some fishes, and even humans (Hoover, 2006).
Pyukumuku’s white, cottonball-shaped tail is a particularly cute feature of this Pokémon (Fig. 4). While it’s possible that this tail is also inspired by the Cuvierian tubules of sea cucumbers, its inspiration may have also come from a different marine invertebrate entirely: sea hares. Sea hares comprise a group of relatively large, fleshy sea slugs, and belong to the phylum Mollusca. While completely unrelated to sea cucumbers, they do have a somewhat similar body shape. And though even sea hares —named after their long rabbit ear-shaped rhinophores— lack a structure resembling a rabbit’s tail, the name sea ‘hare’ may have inspired the rabbit-like tail present on Pyukumuku.
Class Echinoidea (sea urchins)
The class Echinoidea encompasses all true urchins. Generally, urchins can be characterized by their hard, typically globular tests (the ‘shells’ of urchins; Pier & Smith, 2019). These tests are covered in hard spikes, suctioning tube feet, and pincher-like pedicellariae, which extend through pores in the test (Hoover, 2006). On the underside of their test is their hard, calcareous feeding apparatus called Aristotle’s lantern, which they use to scrape and consume living algae and dead organic material from the bottoms (Fig. 5; Hoover, 2006). This makes sea urchins highly effective and well-fortified herbivores and scavengers as they crawl along the ocean floor.
Pincurchin
There is one Pokémon inspired by sea urchins: Pincurchin (#0871) (Fig. 5). Pincurchin is an Electric-type Pokémon, introduced to the franchise in Gen. VIII. It has no known evolution.
This Pokémon has a dark, globular body covered in dark, grey-tipped spines, features very reminiscent to that of many real-world urchins (Fig. 5). These spine-tips will glow yellow when an electric current runs through them, which can happen reflexively when Pincurchin gets startled, a defensive mechanism that serves well against its natural predator, Mareanie (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
Pincurchin’s face, located on the side of its body, has two distinct yellow, circular mouthparts, and two bright yellow eyes with black, triangle-shaped pupils (Fig. 5). This anthropomorphized interpretation of sea urchins differs considerably from real-world urchins. While real-world urchins do have light-sensing organs in their tube feet, they lack any organs that would resemble the paired, pupiled eyes of most vertebrates. Additionally, an urchin’s Aristotle’s lantern is centrally located on the under-side of the organism, not on its side. This calcareous, mainly internal structure differs considerably from the yellow, bulbous design of Pincurchin’s mouthparts. Instead, Pincurchin’s mouth is more likely inspired by urchin roe (Fig. 5), a delicacy in island and coastal communities around the world. However, similar to a real-world urchin’s Aristotle’s lantern, Pincurchin is known to have five hard teeth in its mouth, used to scrape and consume seaweed off rocks and other hard surfaces (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
As Pincurchin metabolizes its food, it generates electricity, which is stored in its spines (The Pokémon Company, 2026). While real-world sea urchins cannot produce electricity the way Pincurchin can, some can produce and store toxins in their spines, making their defense even more painful and dangerous than non-venomous urchins when an organism is punctured (Ehlert-Flaskämper et al., 2025).
Pincurchin was not inspired by any particular species of sea urchin; however, some speculate that Asthenosoma varium, commonly known as the ‘electric sea urchin’, may have served as inspiration for Pincurchin’s behavior and in-universe ecology. A. varium is a venomous, herbaceous species of urchin that inhabits the warmer tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Australia and Southern Japan. This range aligns with that of the crown-of-thorns star, effectively positioning Mareanie —inspired by the crown-of-thorns star— as one of its natural predators in the Pokémon universe.
A notable Pokémon card (Marill 204/193) depicts an ecology of shallow water marine Pokémon, including a relatively large community of Pincurchins. This may be a reference to real-world urchin barrens —vast ‘deserts’ of overpopulated sea urchins that have overrun once-healthy kelp forests (Filbee-Dexter & Scheibling, 2014). Urchin barrens are of particular concern off the west coast of America. In recent decades, populations of the predators of purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) —sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and sunflower stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides)— have been depleted, enabling the overpopulation of these kelp-consuming urchins.
Class Crinoidea (sea lilies and feather stars)
Perhaps the least known of extant echinoderms, modern crinoids primarily reside in the deep sea and comprise two main groups: the feather stars and the sea lilies (Fig. 6). Crinoids are filter feeders and use their many pinnate, feather-like arms to grab organic material and plankton suspended in the water column (Feng et al., 2017). These arms are attached to a central calyx, where the mouth and majority of organs are housed. While crinoids are capable of swimming through the water column, they prefer latching onto hard substrate using their cirri (Feng et al., 2017). The difference between feather stars and sea lilies is that in feather stars, cirri descend directly from the calyx; in contrast, a sea lily’s calyx is joined to its cirri by an intervening central stalk (Fig. 6). This stalk is what gives sea lilies their distinctly taller, more flower-like body shape.
Lileep and Cradily
While there are no Pokémon inspired by feather stars in Gens. I-IX, there are two Pokémon inspired by sea lilies: Lileep (#0345) and its evolution Cradily (#0346) (Fig. 6). Both Pokémon were introduced in Gen. III 3 and are dual-type Rock/Grass Fossil Pokémon (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
Lileep has eight pink petal-like tentacles protruding from a black, cup-like opening on top of its head (Fig. 6). While the arms of real-world sea lilies have pinnules, giving them a feather-like shape, Lileep’s tentacles are thick and smooth. Inside the opening of Lileep’s head are two yellow eyes. Its head and body are light purple, with yellow bullseye shapes on the head. The head is connected to the body by a yellow stem, akin to the stalk of real-world sea lilies. Four stubby roots reminiscent of cirri protrude from the body, anchoring this Pokémon firmly to rocks on the seafloor. If they cannot find hard rocks to anchor to, Lileep have been found anchoring to the shells of Omanyte (#0138), a mollusc-inspired Pokémon (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
Starting at Level 40, Lileep evolves into Cradily. Cradily is a green Pokémon with yellow bullseye markings on its head and torso similar to Lileep. Also, like Lileep, its eyes are concealed inside a black opening on its head, and surrounding its head at the base are eight pink tentacles. Its head is also attached to its body by a yellow stem, and from its body protrude 4 stubby roots that it uses to latch onto rocks. Cradily is more motile than Lileep, and is known to build nests in warm, shallow waters (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
While real-world sea lilies are filter feeders, Lileep and Cradily are both predatory, carnivorous Pokémon. On the seafloor, Lileep sway their tentacles to mimic the movement of seaweed and lure in prey, which they capture and swallow whole (The Pokémon Company, 2026). Cradily have a different prey-capture strategy: they emerge from the shallows into the exposed intertidal during low tides to hunt prey in the sand (The Pokémon Company, 2026).
As a fossil Pokémon, Lileep can be revived from Root Fossils (Fig. 6; The Pokémon Company, 2026). In the Pokémon universe, Lileep (and by extension, its evolution Cradily) are canonically ancient Pokémon, and have been extinct for approximately 100 million years (The Pokémon Company, 2026). However, this is not accurate for real-world sea lilies. While there is fossil evidence of many extinct species of crinoids (Fig. 6), there are still multiple known species of extant sea lilies and feather stars that are alive today (WoRMS Editorial Board, 2026).
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the Pokémon franchise does a remarkable job representing the wide diversity of life on Earth, especially animal life, through its Pokémon characters. Even among the marine invertebrates, a relatively niche community of organisms in mainstream media, to have such diverse representation in just the echinoderms is impressive. Of course, there are some inaccuracies across these echinoderm-inspired Pokémon: Pyukumuku’s tail, Pincurchin’s bulbous mouth, and Lileep’s extinct status, to name a few. However, overall, the franchise does a pretty good job developing interesting and iconic characters that draw clear inspiration from real-world echinoderms. I particularly appreciate that, beyond just the character design of these Pokémon, a lot of intentional gameplay mechanics such as Corsola’s ‘call for help’ feature and Pokémon lore accurately allude to real-world ecological interactions and behaviors of the echinoderms that inspire them.
While the current diversity of organisms represented in Pokémon is impressive, it certainly is not perfect. Currently, Pokémon has representation across four of the five extant classes of echinoderms: Asteroidea, Holothuroidea, Echinoidea, and Crinoidea. The one class of echinoderms yet to be represented in the franchise is Ophiuroidea —the brittle stars and basket stars. Given their scaly, serpent-like arms (Fig. 1), it’s honestly a bit surprising that there isn’t already a brittle star- or basket star-inspired Pokémon. In many ways, such alien, “tentacle-y” characteristics could easily lend themselves to unique character designs that would fit right in with the characters already in the franchise. Tangela (#0114), for example, comes to mind as a Pokémon that’s already in the franchise with somewhat similar characteristics to a basket star. If nothing else, just for the simple satisfaction of representing all five classes of echinoderms, it would be exciting to see an ophiuroid-inspired Pokémon added to the franchise in the future.
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Image credits
All Pokémon images presented in this paper are original artwork from the games, extracted from Bulbapedia (https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/); ©The Pokémon Company International, fair use. Unless otherwise cited, all other images presented in this paper are my own.
About the author
Amy Deatherage earned her BSc. in Global Environmental Science from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She’s literally never played a Pokémon game in her life, she’s just obsessed with echinoderms and marine ecology, and had way too much time on her hands in the summer following her graduation.
Journal of Geek Studies 