It’s a porn star.
A sea star is eliciting sophomoric giggles online due to its resemblance to human genitalia — which is so uncanny it should probably be censored.
A photo of the dildo-evoking deep sea denizen is currently making waves on Reddit, and just like that, a new star is porn.
“It’s an Australian sea star,” reads the post, posted to the forum aggregator yesterday by user u/Dullahen. The starfish was most noteworthy for the pornographic protrusions at the end of its tendrils, which evoke some bizarro undersea sex toy or an X-rated Patrick the Starfish from “Spongebob Squarepants.”
As it turns out, the multi-pronged marine life is actually a granulated sea star (Choriaster granulatus, also known as the doughboy starfish due to its bulbous convex arms.
Generally found in tropical waters from East Africa to Papua New Guinea, the blur-worthy invertebrate feeds on carrion and small invertebrates such as coral polyps, ingesting them via the mouth on the underside of its body.
Go figure: the star’s phallic appearance prompted a tidal wave of jokes on Reddit with many dubbing it a “c–ktopus” and other NSFW goofs.
“Hey, I found one of these sea stars under my mom’s bed once,” joked one cheeky Redditor.
“This is why we never meet mermaids,” wrote another, while one internet quipped, “I hear its condom fits like a glove.”
“Looks like I’m going on a trip to Australia!” exclaimed one Reddit user.
Meanwhile, another social media comedian declared that the starfish was a “sacred religious symbol in the Pentec–kstel Church.”
This isn’t the first sea creature to be compared to genitalia. In 2019, the California coastline was besieged by a flotilla of “pulsing penis fish” aka spoon worms, prompting the internet to go wild over the phallic-looking flotsam.
It also spawned this gem of a tweet from comedian Mark Normand: “Ladies, if you aren’t satisfied at home, remember there are plenty of fish in the sea.”