mixed finger starfish

All About Starfish

Uses for starfish

  • Starfish are used in crafting.
  • Especially popular for beach themed weddings and starfish wedding invitations.
  • Home decorating
  • As a food source

Facts about starfish

Starfish are amazing sea creatures. Scientifically they are known as Echinoderms and are closely related to sea urchins. Also known as sea stars due to their 5 point radial symmetry and there about 2000 starfish species. They are not only found in warm tropical water, but also in deep water and cold water areas.

Amazingly, starfish can grow back their legs over time. They lose their legs from attacking predators, but can also drop a leg if they need to escape (pretty handy, wish I could do that). Whats really interesting is that starfish have most of their vital organs in their legs so an entirely new starfish could grow from one leg if it has a small portion of the central disc.

Starfish have no blood, but instead have a water vascular system which pumps sea water throughout its feet. They move by using hundreds of small tube feet and can move a lot quicker than one would expect.

Starfish eat their prey (such as clams and mussels) by wrapping their legs around and pushing their stomach our of their mouths, into the shell of their prey and digesting the animal. Their stomach then slides back into its own body after feeding. A truly unique, an alien like, eating method.

Their leg tip has sensor cells that can tell whether it is day or night time.

Starfish are prolific breeders and the females can lay up to 2 million eggs.That is a huge amount but many are eaten by and other marine animals. Adult starfish are able to change their gender, which is done if living conditions change.

A truly amazing creature.