One of my favorite animals in the sea is the starfish – I love the variety and beauty of these amazing creatures! And I feel that beach science month would be incomplete without us chatting about these marine animals.
Starfish are also known as sea stars. These marine invertebrates are part of a group known as echinoderms. Echinoderms are animals with spiny skin and sucker feet that all have radial symmetry. Marine creatures like starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, brittle stars, and feather stars are all echinoderms.
Sea stars have no brain, no blood, and they have the weirdest eyes. They typically have five “arms,” but they can have up to fifty! These arms are covered with tube-shaped sucker feet that help the animals move and grab prey. They typically eat small mollusks, like sea snails and clams.
There are over 2000 different species of sea stars. These invertebrates can be found in the depths of the ocean all the way up into the tidal pools. However, they cannot be found in fresh water.
Fun Fact – Starfish eat with their stomachs inside-out.
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