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
Starfish trick he beat Starfish ragged, which is how Starfish still is today. In 1900, the scholar Edward Tregear documented "The Creation Song", which he describes as "an ancient prayer for the dedication of a high chief" of Hawaii. Among the "uncreated gods" described early in the song are the male Kumilipo ("Creation") and the female Poele, both born in the night, a coral insect, the earthworm, and the starfish. Georg Eberhard Rumpf's 1705 "The Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet" describes the tropical varieties of "Stella Marina" or "Bintang Laut", "Sea Star", in Latin and Malay respectively, known in the waters around Ambon.