Starfish first appeared in the fossil record in the Cambrian. The first known asterozoans were the Somasteroidea, which exhibit characteristics of both groups. Starfish are infrequently found as fossils, possibly because their hard skeletal components separate as the animal decays. Despite this, there are a few places where accumulations of complete skeletal structures occur, fossilized in place in Lagerstätten — so-called "starfish beds". By the late Paleozoic, the crinoids and blastoids were the predominant echinoderms, and some limestones from this period are made almost entirely from fragments from these groups. In the two major extinction events that occurred during the late
Pacific spiny lumpsucker females lay large, spherical, orange-colored eggs on rocks. Females typically lay around 200 eggs at a time. After the eggs are laid, the male attaches himself to a nearby surface where he cares for the eggs by defending them from predators and circulating water over them with his fin. Pacific cod, sablefish, and lancefish are known predators of pacific spiny lumpsuckers. Pacific spiny lumpsucker The Pacific spiny lumpsucker, scientific name Eumicrotremus orbis, is a species of bony fish in the Cyclopteridae family. The pacific spiny lumpsucker is a globular shaped fish that typically measures in length, with a maximum known