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Underside of a sunflower sea star. Sunflower sea stars can reach an arm span of 1 m (3.3 ft). They are the heaviest known sea star, weighing about 5 kg. [4] They are the second-biggest sea star in the world, second only to the little known deep water Midgardia xandaros, whose arm span is 134 cm (53 in) and whose body is 2.6 cm (roughly 1 inch) wide. [7]
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (/ ˌ æ s t ə ˈ r ɔɪ d i ə /). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish are also known as asteroids due to being in the class
The sea stars are considered “functionally extinct” in California and Oregon.
A Sunflower Starfish (Pycnopodia helianthoides) undergoes regeneration after losing numerous arms. The early regenerative phase is marked by a large mobilization of various cytotypes from different locations (like the coelomic cavities) towards the edematous regenerating region. [21]
Meanwhile, a disease known as sea star wasting syndrome has wiped out 90 per cent of sunflower starfish since 2013, leaving the urchins to graze the kelp unchecked.
The unusual animals have unique body plans arranged in five equal sections that differ greatly from the symmetric head-to-tail bodies of bilateral animals, which have left and right sides ...
Within the urchin barrens, group of starfishes, sand dollars, and brittle stars scavenge across the barrens while facing against their fierce predator, Sunflower sea star. In Southern Africa , as chokka squid are preyed on by short-tail stingray and sand tiger shark , the Cape fur seals that share the waters are hunted by the world's largest ...
The comatulid Florometra serratissima, in the north east Pacific, has been reported as being preyed on by the graceful decorator crab [7] Oregonia gracilis and the sunflower seastar Pycnopodia helianthoides. The loss of the arms may be due to autotomy, the shedding of an arm to save the rest of the organism. A 20 centimetres (7.9 in) arm was ...