Starfish

 

Most people know that starfish typically have 5 (or multiples of five) identical arms. These arms extend from a central body in a star-shaped arrangement, and they travel across the seafloor slowly with suction cup "tube feet."

 

Here are seven more fun facts about starfish:

 

#1 - Starfish can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Under ideal conditions, starfish unite for spawning, and have sex organs, or gonads, on each arm. Males and females release thousands of sperm and eggs into the water and wait for them to meet for fertilization. Asexual reproduction usually occurs as a result of dismemberment.

 

#2 - Starfish have unusual stomachs. It pushes the stomach through its mouth to digest the food while the stomach is outside its body.

 

#3 - Sea stars don't have a brain or blood. Instead of blood, they have a vascular seawater system. In place of a brain, starfish have a complex nervous system.

 

#4 - Starfish can change gender. Depending on food availability and water temperature, a starfish can change its sex to one that is more suited to its environment.

 

#5 - Starfish can regenerate body parts. It can regenerate if part of it is cut off.

 

#6 - The female starfish can produce millions of eggs. Other animals eat most of the eggs, that is, few are the ones that will become adults.

 

#7 - They have a spot at the end of each arm. Their vision is primitive, and they can only sense movement, light, and dark.