Starfish disintegrate after death. Only the ossicles and spines of the animal are likely to be preserved, making remains hard to locate. With their appealing symmetrical shape, starfish have played a part in literature, legend, design and popular culture. They are sometimes collected as curios, used in design or as logos, and in some cultures, despite possible toxicity, they are eaten. Most starfish have five arms that radiate from a central disc, but the number varies with the group. Some species have six or seven arms and others have 10–15 arms. The Antarctic "Labidiaster annulatus" can have over fifty. Having descended
Crown-of-thorns starfish a week or more. The spines, which are brittle, may also break off and become embedded in the tissue where they must be removed surgically. Saponins seem to occur throughout the lifecycle of the crown-of-thorns starfish. The saponins in the eggs are similar to those in the adult tissues, and presumably these carry over to the larvae. The mouthing behaviour of predators of juvenile starfish with rejection suggests the juveniles contain saponins. The adult crown-of-thorns is a corallivorous predator that usually preys on reef coral polyps. It climbs onto a section of living coral colony using the large number of