Sea Stars/ Starfish

Sea Stars or Starfish as they are commonly known belong to the Echinoderm family and are closely related to sea urchins and Sand Dollars. The scientific name for the Sea Star/ Starfish is Asteroidea. There are 2 000 different species of Sea Star.

Sea Stars have bony hard skin, which is amazingly colored in reds, blues, yellows, oranges and many more. Some Sea Stars have camouflaged skin so that they can blend into their surroundings. Many Sea Stars have five arms to  form a star, but some can have up to 10, 20 or even 40 arms. Sea Stars range from 75cm to 1.5m in size, and weigh up to 5kg.

Sea Stars have eyes on each of their arms they look like tiny red spots.

Sea Stars are located in all of the oceans in the world. Many of the same type are found in the Indo Pacific Region which is a area of water covering the Indian and Pacific oceans. They can be found on coral reefs, rock pools, shorelines, deep areas of the ocean and some even float to the surface.

Sea Stars are Carnivores and their diet consists of a range of different animals some are, barnacles, Chitons, Snails, Urchins, Limpets, Sponges and Sea anemones. Sea Stars have a rare ability to eat prey from the outside, when they have their prey they open their mouth and their stomach emerges from it, they then cover their prey and digest it.Once finished their meal they withdraw their stomach back to it's normal position. 

When a Sea Star breaks off a limb, and if the limb is fully detached, it shall over time produce another Sea Star. The life span of a Sea Star is up to 35 years. This is how thier reproductive system works.

Since there are many different species of Sea Star they all defend themselves in many different ways. Such as spines, many are covered with spines so that their enemies cannot eat them. Many others hide in small places, since some are quite small they can fit in places were many other animals cannot get to them. The Sea Stars predators are birds, sea otters and many different species of fish. 

In conclusion the Sea Star/ Starfish is wonderful animal and even though they are not endangered we should try with all of our might protect this animal. I predict that the Sea Star is heading for a very prosperous future and that they will live on for many more years.  

1. animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/starfish/
2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/starfish
3. www.oceanwideimages.com/categories.asp?CID=74
4. www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/echinoderm/seastarprintout.shtml
5. www.reef.edu.au/asp-pages/secb.aisp?FormNo=43