Starfish by the starfish in an escape response. The loss of parts of the body is achieved by the rapid softening of a special type of connective tissue in response to nervous signals. This type of tissue is called catch connective tissue and is found in most echinoderms. An autotomy-promoting factor has been identified which, when injected into another starfish, causes rapid shedding of arms. The lifespan of a starfish varies considerably between species, generally being longer in larger forms and in those with planktonic larvae. For example, "Leptasterias hexactis" broods a small number of large-yolked eggs. It has an adult
Northern spiny-tailed gecko northern spiny-tailed gecko. A large amount of this species' habitat has been lost or heavily degraded by land clearing and feral invasive species including goats. Habitat degradation and loss should not be considered a major threat at this time due to the wide distribution and a large amount of suitable habitat that remains. Northern spiny-tailed gecko The northern spiny-tailed gecko ("Strophurus ciliaris") is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae which is endemic to Australia. The meaning of the scientific name or binomial, "Strophurus ciliaris", comes from "strophurus" meaning "turning-tail" and "ciliaris" meaning "eyelashed", referring to the spines above