SEA STARS AND STARFISH

Preys, Predators, and How Sea Stars Eat

Sea Stars eat many things such as clams, scallops, dead crabs, and dead fish. Sea Stars have their mouth on the side that touches the sand. Sea Stars grip their prey with their suction feet and pry them apart to eat the mussel inside the shells. Many different animals eat sea stars such as fish, sea turtles, snails, crabs, shrimps, otters, birds, and even other sea stars.

Ochre Sea Star
The Ochre Sea Star likes to eat mussels. They can also climb up a rock wall. It's also 20 inches long and has 5 thick arms. It's one of the most common large sea stars on the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico. The Ochre Sea Star can be yellow, brown, orange, red or purple.

Daisy Brittle Star
The Daisy Brittle Star usually has different arm sizes. They hide under rocks in tide pools and it's body is cookie-shaped. They are found from Canada to Massachusetts, and from Alaska to California. They stay off sand dunes and are spotted or striped. They can be red, orange, pink, yellow, white, blue, green, tan, brown, gray or black.

BatStar
The Bat Star is found mostly in Alaska to Mexico. It is usually the colour reddish-orange. It may have any number of arms between 4-9. It's measured about 8 inches across which is 20 cm. They are poor swimmers and usually don't go very deep. The BatStar can be green, purple, red, orange, yellow or brown.

Cushion Sea Star
The Cushion Sea Star is the largest sea star on the Atlantic Coast. It grows to be about 50 cm long. It lives in coral, sandy, or weedy sea floors. It's habitat is from Southeastern U.S. to South America. They can be red, orange, yellow, brown, or blue.

Dwarf Brittle Star
The middle of the Dwarf Brittle Star's body is less than half an inch long. Each of the arms vary from about two-four cm long. It lives in tide pools in the shallow waters from the Arctic Ocean to Florida and California. They are orange, black, beige, brown, gray, or blue.

Smooth Sun Star
The Smooth Sun Star has about seven to fourteen arms. They live in the cold water from Massachusetts to the Arctic Ocean. It grows to be about 40 cm long. It can also be purple, pink, red, or orange.

People Impact on Starfish and SeaStars

Some aquariums have starfish you can touch. If they keep getting in and out of the water, they might die or loose breathe. Sea stars have been dying of wasting syndrome along the Pacific Coast. People are making the water contaminated and polluted. The water is forming barriers in between starfish which is causing them to drift apart.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Starfish remind us of the beautiful ocean.
• Sea stars live close to the shore in places called tide pools.
• Sea stars share their homes with other creatures.
• A low tide doesnt bother a sea star because it can stay out if its wet.
• If they are broken into pieces, that peice will grow to be a new one.

Conclusion
After learning about Sea Stars, we know that we shouldn't pollute the water. We also know now how important a sea star is for the food chain. There are plenty of more sea stars you can search about all around the world. It would be a nice thing to do is to visit sea stars in an aquarium.

Definition
Barriers-A fence or other obstacles that prevent movement or access.

Contaminated- makes something impure by exposure to or addition of a poisonous or polluting substance.

THANKS FOR WATCHING!