Here’s what I thought about starfish, until about five minutes ago:
- Don’t look like fish
- Don’t seem to do much
- They’re probably just like really big limpets
It certainly never occurred to me they can move, but the BBC have a gorgeous time-lapse video of starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and other soft, squishy seafarers swarming over and feasting upon on a dead seal. It looks like CGI.
Here are some things I know now about starfish:
- Starfish can eat by pushing their stomachs through their mouths and using the digestive juices to break down the foodstuff.
- There is a type of starfish called a ‘Bat star’. Sometimes Bat stars fight. “Fighting behavior consists of pushing and laying an arm over the other.” Aw.
- Some starfish can regenerate. Chop a starfish into five pieces, and – as long as some part of the central ring is left attached to each arm – you’ll get five starfish. Nice.
I am now a fan of starfish. Flickr has some great shots.