starfishfacts.org

Starfish, also popularly recognized equally as sea stars, common name for 5 orders and about 1500 living species of marine invertebrate characterized by radially arranged arms having locomotory tube feet. Actually, starfish cannot be considered as fish in spite of the name provided to these sea animals. Some known starfish facts are that they belong to the group called echinoderms. They can be found in great numbers in the depths of the ocean and as well as in shallow waters. A huge variety of its kind can be found in the Indo-Pacific tropical region. Seabed and coral reefs are also among their habitat but starfish do not live in freshwater.

One of the remarkable starfish facts is that starfish possesses two (2) stomachs. First, we have cardiac stomach which aids the sea creature to swallow up food from the outside. The cardiac stomach then goes back inside the body and the food is moved towards the other called pyloric stomach.

Commonly, starfish are rather stiff bodied and move slowly. The mouth is directed downward and is enclosed by a number of arms radiating away from it, each arm bearing rows of tube feet used in crawling, attachment, and feeding. The arm length differs and four, six, or more arms instead of the normal five are not unusual.

The anus is often missing; if present, it is on the body's upper portion. The skin is rough and leather and usually has spines. The animal has a large gut, a complex system of body cavities, and a simple, brainless nervous system. A kind of starfish, Coscinasterias Calamaria, which is well-known as the sea star with eleven (11) arms, has an arm that can spread up to even thirty (30 ) centimeters.

By taking a look at its name, you will obviously know that it has eleven (11) arms; surprisingly sometimes the figure can even go higher. The spiky surface of most starfish is used as a way of defense. Crown-of-thorns on the other hand is a kind of starfish that has pointed spines surrounding its physique. The forms found in these sea creatures are numerous. With starfish, brilliant tints and strips come out frequently in most cases.

Other interesting starfish facts are their behavior. They can react to light because their senses are very keen. Their source of food comes from wide variety of things which includes deposits on the bottom of the ocean. They have the ability to swallow big animals. They feed on bigger prey by pushing their stomachs and then they will digest it from the outside. Other starfish feed on animals with hinged double shell or bivalves by opening the shells using their arms and then sliding their stomachs into the shell. Starfish can be found in the oceans all over the world. A great number of this kind can be found in the tropical region of the Indo-Pacific. Seabed and coral reefs found deep in the ocean are the places where starfish lives. At the end of each arm, they have microscopic eye which allow the starfish to view movements in water and distinguish brightness and darkness.

Another fact when it comes to reproduction is that a great number of starfish do not have the same sexes which produce both sperm and eggs. They bring it out into the water, wherein fertilization and early growth of the young also takes place. At times the mother keeps the eggs on the bottom and guards them. A lot of starfish possess the ability to restore broken body parts. In some starfish this is their way of reproducing asexually, wherein new animals are being produced from each broken body part.

Starfish play a vital part in some communities of sea animals, because they feed on different range of matters which are often abundant. Under strange conditions they also are able to make damages wherein some destroy oyster beds. Another starfish known as crown-of-thorns has rather uncontrolled increase of population that destroys coral reefs by feeding excessively on the coral. Some animals consume adult starfish, which are not even edible or healthy. These fascinating starfish facts reveal an intriguing story that there is this kind of existence under the sea. Perhaps if we could still look further into the deep, from the simple to the very striking, life under the ocean has an entirely new horizon for everyone to look up to.