Starfish, often called sea stars, are fascinating marine creatures.
On Daufuskie Island, you can find two species of starfish: the Lined Sea Star and Forbes’ Common Sea Star. Sometimes they wash up with the tides. But, often times, if you wade while you walk the beaches, you may be so lucky as to bump into one. While it’s exciting to encounter these stunning sea creatures, it’s important to note that it is illegal to remove living starfish from the beach.
Lined Sea Star
- Size: Typically grows up to 12 inches in diameter
- Color: Tan, orange-red, or purple, often with darker bands.
- Movement: Crawls with all its feet moving in the same direction, but not in a synchronized pattern.
- Physiology: Features a small central disc and five slender arms, each measuring two to three times the width of the disc. The upper surface is covered with rows of pillar-like spines with flattened tops adorned with tiny spinules. Its tube feet, arranged in rows on the underside, lack suckers and instead have two swollen segments. At the center of the underside lies the mouth.
Forbes’ Common Sea Star
- Size: Generally grows 3–6″ in radius, but some can reach up to 20 inches in diameter.
- Color: Shades of tan, brown, olive, or pink.
- Movement: Moves at a speed of 7″ per minute in calm waters.
- Habitat: Found in shallow coastal zones, attached to rocks, near jetties and pilings, or over sandy and stony ocean floors at greater depths.
- Diet: Primarily feeds on mussels and oysters.
- Physiology: Typically has five arms, though it occasionally features four or six. Its upper surface has tiny pincer-like structures that can grip objects. The arms are plump, broad at the base, and taper to blunt tips. The underside features several rows of tube feet. Near the tip of each arm, on the underside, you’ll find small eyespots.
Not only are they beautiful to behold, they are a wonder of the sea.
- With their unusual anatomy—no brain, no blood—they defy conventional biology. Perhaps their most remarkable ability, though, is regenerating their own arms, a skill as practical as it is extraordinary.
- Starfish may not have a brain, but their intricate nervous system enables them to move and function seamlessly. Instead of blood, they rely on seawater, which is pumped throughout their body to deliver essential nutrients.
- Another fascinating feature is their unique digestive process. Their stomach can extend outside their body to digest food, making it small enough to fit into their mouth before being broken down further inside
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luidia_clathrata, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterias_forbesi.
