The starfish, an animal with magical powers

A surprising organism with powerful symbolism

Today we are talking about the original and beautiful animal that is the starfish, we will make a simple description to teach you the basics of this fun and interesting organism.

First of all, starfish are echinoderms, Echinodermata comes from the Greek and means “hedgehog skin”. This phylum includes sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. There are about 7000 living species today.

The starfish has a central disc with five or more arms depending on the species. The record for arms is held by the sunflower starfish, which can have up to 24 arms. The aboral face (upper side) can be hard, pointed, granular or smooth depending on the species. On the oral face (underside) is the mouth and “legs” of the animal. There are thousands of them, and they look like small tentacles with a suction cup. The legs are useful for moving around, but also for smelling, exchanging gases, collecting food and hunting.

The starfish has eyes at the end of each arm. They can detect light and see very low-resolution images. Without their vision, starfish are unable to find their way home, even a metre away.

Starfish are invertebrates and therefore have no skeletons. They also have a hydraulic system called the vascular system of water. This hydraulic system gives the starfish the ability to move around, cling to surfaces, carry nutrients and breathe. It also does not have a brain, but it does have a very complex nervous system that starts in its mouth and extends along its arms.

As far as their diet is concerned, it is quite varied. Like most fish, they’re opportunistic, so they can eat all kinds of food that they come across. Zooplankton (Rotifers, Artemis, Copepods, Daphnia, etc…), phytoplankton suspended in the water or in the substrate, invertebrates or fish. Be careful because some species such as Acanthaster Planci consume coral polyps, to be avoided in aquariums if you wish to conserve your corals.

Starfish have one of the strangest digestive systems in the animal kingdom, they have the ability to feed on prey much larger than their mouth size by catching and digesting molluscs, crustaceans, sponges outside their body, and this, by taking out part of their stomach. Thanks to their thousands of suction cups, they secrete a gastric juice that allows external digestion. There are, however, species that simply have to bring food to their mouths and eat it entirely, rejecting inedible matter.

Finally, starfish have very special but well-known powers; they are capable of regenerating themselves infinitely, which is not negligible. Indeed, when an individual loses one or more arms during an attack or other event, the starfish has the ability to regenerate its limbs. The regrowth is quite slow, it takes several months or even a year for a limb to regain its initial size. This regeneration process can occur as long as a certain amount of central disc or arm remains. You can then surprisingly reproduce a starfish by cutting it in half. This ability also allows the starfish to give up one arm to “offer” it to a hungry predator and continue its existence.

There is a great deal of symbolism around the starfish, particularly in Greece, where it originated as a totem pole. Possessing 5 arms, it is a natural pentagram and is therefore considered a magical and powerful creature.