Page 74 - World of Animals - Deadly Predators

1. How do they eat?

What makes starfish such
effective hunters is their ability
to encapsulate their prey with
their own stomach. Ejected
from their mouth, starfish cast
20 externally digest the soft parts
out a net of their stomach to

of clams, fish and oysters.
Releasing digestive enzymes,
starfish break down their prey
into a seafood stew that they
Amazing then re-ingest along with their
own stomach.

facts

Starfish © Thinkstock

6. How do they hunt?
Discover what makes Starfish are solitary marine
these echinoderms creatures, slowly scouring
the seafloor looking for
so well adapted to their next meal. As keen
hunters, starfish won’t
hunting in the ocean one of the many shellfish,
pass up a chance to grab

fish and invertebrates they
Words Scott Dutfield encounter. However, they
are also opportunists and
can never say no to a free
meal. Collecting en masse
2. What if they lose a limb? upon detecting a whiff of

Hunting prey can be hard when you’ve a dead carcass (such as
lost limbs at the jaws of another predator. a seal that has fallen to
However, thanks to their ability to the seafloor), hundreds of
regenerate cells, starfish are able to grow starfish will converge to
back missing limbs. The process can take eat the remains.
anywhere between a few months or years
7. Can they catch
depending on the species. It’s also been
fast prey?
reported that some species are able to
Starfish often enjoy
regenerate entirely from only half a body!
feasting on the flesh of
slow-moving prey or
3. Are they common? 4. How do they scavenging on remains.
However, in 2017, while
Starfish can be found sense their prey? exploring a ridge off Jarvis
Having a keen sense
in saltwater seas of smell is vital for a Island in the South Pacific
starfish in the pursuit Ocean, a group of scientists
across the globe, with of their next meal. witnessed a brittlestar (a

large populations Coating the surface small-bodied, long, thin-
of their skin, starfish
in the Indo-Pacific are equipped with limbed starfish) reach up
and snatch small passing
chemoreceptors, which
Ocean region. They are highly sensitive in squid. Once entangled
in its long legs, the squid
are, however, unable © Thinkstock picking up the scent of was quickly moved to the
nearby prey.
to survive in fresh mouth to be consumed.
water due to their

dependence on 5. How many species are there?

saltwater calcium, Starfish, or ‘sea stars’, are a common name for over
which they use to 2,000 species of these marine invertebrates, all of

create their super which belong to the taxonomic class Asteroidea.
tough bodies.

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