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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 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 ...
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 .
Regrowth of both the lost part of the disk and the arms occur [6] which yields an animal with three large arms and three small arms during the period of growth. The West Indian brittle star, Ophiocomella ophiactoides , frequently undergoes asexual reproduction by fission of the disk with subsequent regeneration of the arms.
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.
If attacked by a predator such as the morning sun star (Solaster dawsoni) or the sunflower star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), the slime star emits great quantities of repellent mucus and can often evade the predator. [3] The mucus is toxic and has been shown to kill other invertebrates immersed in it. [3]
The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish (Asterias rubens) is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae , it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens (up to 52 cm across) are known.
Heliaster kubiniji is a species of starfish in the order Forcipulatida. It is commonly known as the gulf sun star , the common sun star or estrella de mar de golfo and it occurs in the intertidal zone of the Pacific coast of California, Mexico and Nicaragua.