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In certain species of starfish, the females brood their eggs – either by simply enveloping them [33] or by holding them in specialised structures. Brooding may be done in pockets on the starfish's aboral surface, [34] [30] inside the pyloric stomach (Leptasterias tenera) [35] or even in the interior of the gonads themselves. [31]
Adult fish also prey on fish eggs and larvae. For example, haddock were observed satiating themselves with herring eggs back in 1922. [14] Another study found cod in a herring spawning area with 20,000 herring eggs in their stomachs, and concluded that they could prey on half of the total egg production. [17] Fish also cannibalise their own eggs.
Like other starfish in the family Asteriidae, Marthasterias glacialis is a predator and feeds mostly on bivalve molluscs and other invertebrates. [6] It has been found that secondary metabolites known as saponins , found within the starfish's tissues, have a dramatic effect on the whelk Buccinum undatum .
Asterias amurensis, also known as the Northern Pacific seastar and Japanese common starfish, is a seastar found in shallow seas and estuaries, native to the coasts of northern China, Korea, far eastern Russia, Japan, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and British Columbia in Canada.
Asterina pancerii is probably a predator, feeding on micro-organisms on the surface of the seagrass blades. It is a sequential hermaphrodite, starting life as a female and later becoming a male. [2] The eggs are deposited on the substrate where, after being fertilised, they are brooded by the
The gonads release eggs and sperm which rise to the surface where the eggs are fertilised. They have large yolks and the developing larvae rely on this and do not feed. They can swim and they drift with the currents as part of the zooplankton. They later sink to the seabed and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile starfish. [3] [5]
The genus Linckia, as is true of other species of starfish, is recognized by scientists as being possessed of remarkable regenerative capabilities, and endowed with powers of defensive autotomy against predators: [citation needed] Although not yet documented, L. laevigata may be able to reproduce asexually, as does the related species Linckia ...
Nearby males then release sperm and the fertilised eggs rise to the surface of the water. They are bright orange or yellow and are wrapped in a gelatinous membrane. They become planktonic and pass through several developmental stages over the course of about 25 days. They then undergo metamorphosis into juvenile starfish and settle onto the seabed.