I used to love to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific and interact with the starfish. Starfish, or sometimes they are called sea stars, are beautiful animals that can be a variety of colors, shapes and sizes, although all resemble a star.
Although starfish live underwater they are not fish. They do not have scales, gills, or fins like fish and they move very differently from fish. You see fish propel themselves with their tails but starfish have these cute, tiny tube feet to help them move along the surface. According to National Geographic there are about 2,000 species of starfish who live on the seabed in all the world’s oceans. They live in both the tropics and frigid polar waters and can be found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, about 20,000 ft, below the surface. Talk about versatile.
According to Soft Schools starfish are related to sand dollars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. Starfish vary in size. They usually have five to ten inches in length and weigh up to 11 pounds and can survive up to 35 years in the wild.
Yes, it is true. A starfish can regenerate lost arms. And since a starfish has most of their vital organs in their arms, some can even regenerate an entirely new starfish from just one arm and a portion of the star’s central disc. It takes about a year for an arm to grow back. That is pretty cool!
People wonder if a starfish can see? I can tell you they do not see in much detail but can sense light and dark with an eye spot at the end of each arm. This is a very simple eye that looks like a red spot.
Have you ever seen a starfish? Share your thoughts in the comments. Would love to hear from you.
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