#forcipulatida

[snototter]

A common starfish (Asterias rubens) washed ashore near the White Sea in Russia

by Alexander Semenov

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Most animals need blood to survive, but not starfish! None of the over 2,000 species of sea star have blood, although they do have a circulatory system. To transport oxygen and nutrients through their body, starfish pump seawater through an opening called the madreporite into their bodies. Starfish also use this system to move by contracting various muscles and forcing water into or out of their limbs.

(Image: A cluster of ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) by David Job)

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[life-on-our-planet]

“The sunflower starfish is a meter across with an appetite for brittle stars. It uses its feet to taste for prey. When its actions are sped up it becomes clear that the predator’s fondness for the brittle stars is almost matched by the brittle stars’ ability to get out of the way.” David Attenborough | Planet Earth

[animalids]

Giant-spined starfish (Pisaster giganteus)

Photo by David R. Andrew

[snototter]

An ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) in Seal Rock, Oregon, USA

by Robyn Waayers

[thoughtlessarse]

A blue spiny starfish takes a bow. Scientists have discovered that the ‘arms’ of a starfish are actually extensions of their head. A biologist commented that one could think of the body of a starfish as ‘a disembodied head walking about the sea floor on its lips – the lips having sprouted a fringe of tube feet, co-opted from their original function of sorting food particles, to do the walking’ - Photograph: bennymarty/Getty Images

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[rbade-art]

[namakos]

Ochre star / オーカースター

Pisaster ochraceus

オーカースター アラスカからカリフォルニア半島にかけて生息。

Ochre star It is found from Alaska to Baja California.

Animalia Echinodermata Asteroidea Forcipulatida Asteriidae 動物界 棘皮動物門 ヒトデ綱 マヒトデ目 マヒトデ科 Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California, United States. 太平洋水族館＠カリフォルニア州ロングビーチ