Jan 13
A sea star resting quietly in a tide pool may not look like one of the ocean’s strangest animals. It has no recognizable face, no obvious head, and no fins. It may appear to spend most of its life barely moving across a rock. Yet beneath that simple star-shaped body is an animal with hydraulic …
Jul 26
Starfish look almost too simple to be real. With a central body and arms spreading outward like the points of a star, they seem far less complicated than fish, crabs, octopuses, or other familiar ocean animals. Underneath that deceptively simple shape, however, is one of the ocean’s most unusual body plans. Starfish — more accurately …
Jul 25
The familiar five-armed starfish resting in a tide pool represents only a tiny glimpse of one of the ocean’s most diverse groups of animals. Scientists recognize roughly 2,000 species of sea stars, and they come in far more shapes, sizes, colors, and lifestyles than their shared name suggests. Some are small enough to hide beneath …
