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To feed on one of these, the starfish moves over it, attaches its tube feet and exerts pressure on the valves by arching its back. When a small gap between the valves is formed, the starfish inserts part of its stomach into the prey, excretes digestive enzymes and slowly liquefies the soft body parts.
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
Smaller starfish feed on isopods, pelecypods and chitons. Larger starfish also feed on amphipods , polychaete worms and the limpet Nacella delesserti , which makes up 90% of its diet by mass. The feeding method depends on the relative size of starfish and victim.
Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), which feed on large swaths of western Pacific coral reefs, are notable unidirectional regenerators. [9] Starfish of this invasive species are extremely difficult to eradicate because of their ability to regrow when half or more of the original starfish is intact. [9]
A bipinnaria is the first stage in the larval development of most starfish, and is usually followed by a brachiolaria stage. Movement and feeding is accomplished by the bands of cilia. Starfish that brood their young generally lack a bipinnaria stage, with the eggs developing directly into miniature adults Bipinnaria larva
Starfish are some of the strangest creatures of the animal kingdom—so much so that scientists didn’t even know for sure if the animals had heads.
The heads of most animals are easily identifiable, but scientists haven’t been able to say the same for sea stars — until now.
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.