Starfish are trappy marine creatures with a unshared shape that makes them easy to recognize. But did you know they don’t unchangingly have a five-pointed figure? They come in all variegated shapes, sizes, and colors—and their visitation changes widely based on their species. This is just one of many interesting facts well-nigh starfishes you might not know.
Starfish are very important members of the marine ecosystem and play a vital role in keeping our oceans regulated. They’re found all over the world, from the tropical waters of the state of Hawaii to the unprepossessed polar regions.
If you want to learn increasingly interesting facts well-nigh starfishes, like why their skin is so hard, how fast they can move, or the unique way they eat, you’ll enjoy this comprehensive list of information.
43 Interesting Facts Well-nigh Starfish
A starfish might squint like a simple creature, but these underwater animals have many fascinating features. In fact, some of their characteristics might just surprise you.
1. There Are Approximately 2,000 Species of Starfish
There are well-nigh 2,000 species of starfish in the world’s oceans today.
2. Starfish Come in a Variety of Colors
Starfish come in all sorts of variegated colors—like red, blue, purple, green, orange, pink, black, and white. And they’re not limited to a single shade; some species have patterns made up of several colors.
3. Orange is the Most Worldwide Verisimilitude of a Starfish
Although starfish come in a wide variety of colors, orange and orangish-brown is the most worldwide verisimilitude of a starfish.
4. Starfish Are Not Fish
Starfish live underwater, but that’s where their similarity to fish ends. They do not have fins, scales, or gills. They are echinoderms, which are a phylum of marine invertebrates.
5. Starfish Are Related to Sand Dollars
Sea stars are related to all the other members of the echinoderms family, which includes sand dollars, sea urchins, vitreous stars, crinoids, sea lilies, and sea cucumbers. All members of this group have five-point radial symmetry.
6. These Underwater Creatures Are Referred to by Two Variegated Names
In most European countries, these underwater creatures are referred to as sea stars. In other parts of the world, they’re usually tabbed starfish.
7. Starfish Don’t Have a Brain
Although starfish don’t have brains, they have ramified nervous systems. This allows them to finger pain, and it moreover coordinates their movement.
8. Starfish Don’t Have Thoroughbred in Their Body
Starfish don’t have thoroughbred in their body; instead, they have a water vascular system that pumps seawater throughout their tube feet and body.
9. Starfish Can Have Hundreds or Thousands of Feet
Depending on the size of a starfish, they can have hundreds to thousands of little tube feet located on the underside of their arms. To get where they need to go, they fill their feet with seawater, which helps propel movement. Their tube feet moreover help them hold onto their prey and nail to things in their environment.
10. Starfish Are Slow Movers
Most starfish move relatively slowly; they typically trickle at speeds of well-nigh 6 inches per minute. Sunflower sea stars are thought to be the fastest in the species. An sultana can move at top speeds of well-nigh 3.2 feet per minute.
11. Starfish Have Eyes
Although variegated from human eyes, starfish can see. Their “eyes” are located on the tip of each of their stovepipe and are usually red or woebegone in color. Although they’re very small, they are visible to the naked eye. Their vision can’t make out full details, but they can sense the differences between light and dark.
12. Starfish Can Live For Many Years
There are many variegated species of starfish, and each can live for a variegated number of years. But starfish can often live for up to 35 years in the wild.
13. Starfish Don’t Do Very Well in Captivity
Starfish do much largest living in the wild; the ocean has everything they need. In captivity, they usually live for 5 to 10 years.
14. The Size of a Starfish Can Determine How Long It Lives
In general, the larger starfish species tend to live longer than the smaller starfish species.
15. Starfish Can Be Heavy
Starfish come in all variegated sizes, but some of the larger species can weigh up to 11 pounds.
16. Starfish Are Found in Many Marine Environments
Starfish can be found in many variegated ocean habitats, like rocky shores, kelp beds, seagrass, coral reefs, sand, and tidal pools.
17. Starfish Can’t Live in Fresh Water
The oceans virtually the world are home to starfish. They need the calcium found in salt water to form their bodies. In fresh water, the levels of this mineral are too low for starfish to survive.
18. Starfish Occupy Variegated Depths of the Ocean
Starfish live in all depths of the ocean floor, from shallow waters to as deep as 19,500 feet unelevated the surface.
19. Starfish Have a Nonflexible Shell
If you’ve overly stroked the soul of a starfish, you’re familiar with the fact that they have an extremely nonflexible body. Their skin consists of a calcium carbonate plate. This is the protective armor that helps shield them from predators.
20. Starfish Are Radially Symmetrical
Starfish are radially symmetrical, which ways their wattle of soul parts is centered virtually a single main axis. If a starfish is cut from one side of its soul through the part-way to the other side, this cut can produce two equal halves.
Other marine animals that are radially symmetrical include jellyfish, sea anemones, and coral.
21. Starfish Are Carnivorous
Starfish are carnivorous; they mostly eat clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and coral.
22. Starfish Sometimes Eat Other Starfish
Starfish can be cannibalistic; they have been documented eating smaller starfish. Baby starfish will cannibalize their own, smaller siblings too.
23. Starfish Have Several Predators
The main predators of starfish include sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, snails, crabs, and otters.
24. Some Cultures Eat Starfish
A handful of Asian countries eat starfish. In Japan and China, they are sold in street supplies markets. The edible part of a starfish is the meat in its legs; its shell and feet are not edible, and can unquestionably be poisonous.
They’re not very worldwide seafood, and many people that have eaten them describe them as stuff an uninventive taste.
25. The Way a Starfish Eats Is Very Unique
After a starfish has personal its prey, it’ll proffer its stomach outside of its mouth and envelop the edible parts of its prey’s body. When they’ve finished digesting their meal, they’ll yank their stomach when into their soul to swallow it.
26. Starfish Aren’t Social
Starfish are not social creatures. They spend most of their life vacated but will occasionally congregate in groups to feed during unrepealable times of the year.
27. Starfish Can Reproduce Sexually and Asexually
Starfish can reproduce in two ways. Sexually, fertilization occurs by spawning. This is where males and females release millions of eggs and sperm into the water. When an egg meets with the sperm, fertilization occurs.
Asexual reproduction takes place when fission or autotomy of stovepipe occurs. This is when a inside disc or a portion of their arm breaks off and a new piece grows to replace the missing part.
28. Sexuality Starfish Release Millions of Eggs
A sexuality starfish can release up to 2.5 million eggs into the water at one time. The majority of their eggs are eaten by marine creatures, so only a fraction of this number will live to maturity.
29. Starfish Can Change Their Gender
Some species of starfish can switch their gender. The cocoon star, for example, only births male babies. Once the males mature, they stop producing sperm and instead start creating eggs.
30. There Are Square Starfish
Not all starfish have five arms. A mutation in the square starfish caused one of its stovepipe to be removed, making it square.
31. There’s a Starfish Species With a Circular Appearance
Culcita novaeguineae, whose worldwide name is the cocoon star, is a species of starfish that resembles a pin cushion. Its inflated visitation is due to its having very short stovepipe that make it squint circular. They vary in verisimilitude and mostly inhabit the warm, tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific region.
32. Starfish Don’t Live Long Out of Water
Most starfish species can’t last increasingly than 3 to 5 minutes outside of water. They are unable to outbreathe and suffocate within a matter of minutes.
33. Starfish Shouldn’t Be Picked Up
Even though starfish can survive for a few minutes outside of the ocean, you should never pick them up from the water if you see one. Other factors, like sunscreen, lotion, perfume, and other chemicals on your skin can harm them.
34. The Sunflower Sea Star Is One of the Largest Starfish Species
Pycnopodia helianthoides, whose worldwide name is the sunflower sea star, is among the largest starfish in the world. It has a maximum arm span of well-nigh 3.2 feet. At full maturity, it usually has between 16 and 24 limbs.
Unfortunately, as of 2020, the sunflower sea star is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species.
35. The Pink Starfish Is Flipside One of the Largest Starfish Species
The pink starfish is flipside one of the largest starfish species in the world. They typically have a diameter of 13 inches; however, they’ve been recorded measuring up to 35 inches.
36. The Smallest Known Starfish Species Can Fit on Your Fingernail
Parvulastra parvivipara is the smallest known species of starfish. They typically grow to be well-nigh 0.4 inches in diameter. They are an orange-yellow verisimilitude and live in South Australia
Another interesting fact well-nigh this small starfish species is that they requite lineage to live young.
37. The Bat Starfish Has Webbed Arms
The bat starfish’s name comes from its appearance. They have webbing in between their arms, similar to a bat. Although their scientific name is Patiria miniata, their worldwide name is the bat starfish, sea bat, or webbed star.
In terms of the other parts of their appearance, they can have from five up to nine stovepipe and their verisimilitude varies from orange to untried to purple.
38. The Royal Starfish Is One of the Most Interestingly Colored Starfish
The royal starfish is one of the most beautifully hued starfish species. The outline of their soul is a gold or orange verisimilitude and the inside is usually unvigilant purple. This species is mostly found withal the east tailspin of North America.
39. There’s a Species of Starfish Named After Jewelry
Fromia monilis, whose worldwide name is necklace starfish, is flipside striking species of starfish. They have a red or orange soul dotted with little white spots that resemble pearls. They are mostly found in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.
40. There’s a Species of Starfish Named After a Sweet
Protoreaster nodosus is wontedly tabbed the chocolate tweedle sea star. Its soul has small woebegone dots with little spikes coming from them, which makes it squint like it’s topped with chocolate chips. They’re found in the warm, shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
41. One Species of Starfish Has Spikes on Its Body
Acanthaster planci, known wontedly as the crown-of-thorns starfish, has long spikes that imbricate the outer surface of its upper body. The spikes are venomous to both marine creatures and humans.
42. The Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish Are Threatening Coral Reefs
The crown-of-thorns starfish inhabits the coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Great Barrier Reef. They can eat their way through well-nigh 107 square feet of coral in one year. In regular numbers, they have a positive impact on the ecosystem, but recently, their budding population has resulted in a major coral loss.
43. Starfish Are a Keystone Species
Starfish are a keystone species and are very important for the marine ecosystem. They prey on animals that don’t have other natural predators. If there were no starfish, their prey would overgraze on kelp, which would create a shortage of supplies and habitat for the marine life that relies on it for survival.
