Thursday, July 5, 2012

FINE SUMMER DAY



 really low tide again


a SEA STAR not a STAR FISH
There are some 2,000 species of sea star living in all the world’s oceans, from tropical habitats to the cold seafloor. The five-arm varieties are the most common, hence their name, but species with 10, 20, and even 40 arms exist.
Beyond their distinctive shape, sea stars are famous for their ability to regenerate limbs, and in some cases, entire bodies. They accomplish this by housing most or all of their vital organs in their arms. Some require the central body to be intact to regenerate, but a few species can grow an entirely new sea star just from a portion of a severed limb.
Pycnopodia helianthoides, commonly known as the sunflower seastar, is a large sea star found in the eastern Pacific. It is the largest sea star in the world, with a maximum armspan of 1 m (3.3 ft). Sunflower seastars usually have 16 to 24 limbs, their color can vary widely. They are predatory, feeding mostly on sea urchins, clams, snails, and other small invertebrates.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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