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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]
Solaster dawsoni attacking a spiny red sea star, Hippasteria spinosa An adult specimen of Solaster dawsoni afflicted by the Sea star wasting disease off Vancouver. The morning sun star is a predator, feeding mostly on other starfish. It is feared by other stars which move away as fast as they can if touched by a morning sun star.
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.
About 260 extant species within 70 genera are currently known, which make this family the most diverse of all the sea stars, [5] even if half of the genera are monospecific.
Labidiaster annulatus, the Antarctic sun starfish or wolftrap starfish is a species of starfish in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in the cold waters around Antarctica and has a large number of slender, flexible rays.
A starfish has five identical arms with a layer of “tube feet” beneath them that can help the marine creature move along the seafloor, causing naturalists to puzzle over whether sea stars have ...
Once attached, it begins to metamorphose into the adult form. The adult starfish develops only from the hind-part of the larva, away from the sucker. It is from this part that the arms of the adult grow, with the larval arms eventually degenerating and disappearing. The digestive system of the larva also degenerates, and is almost entirely rebuilt.
Aboral surface of an Asterias forbesi sea star showing ring of pedicellariae surrounding spine. Asterias, like most starfish genera in the order Forcipulatida, are recognisable externally by their pedicellariae, many thousands of tiny jaw-like structures on the skin which can snap shut to nip at prey or predators.