Starfish (Sea Stars) by Irene Sheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9 Starfish shine brighter than the sea! en-us 2017-09-14 22:52:00 UTC 2026-03-05 21:03:11 UTC hello@padlet.com Irene Sheerin Mrs. Wentland EnglishThursday, September 2, 2017 Starfish (Sea Stars)Have you ever wondered where starfish come from because sometimes I think that a star fell from the sky into the ocean. I started to love starfish when I went to the Galapagos with National Geographic and with my family. We went snorkeling in water that was very shallow, and there were so many starfish on the ocean floor that my dad (who is 6 foot, 3 inches) couldn’t even stand on the ocean floor. It was so amazing to see all of those starfish and all of the different colors that they could be. Most of them I had never even seen before, and it was so cool to experience that I could barely breath, but then again I was snorkeling, and the snorkel could have been working wrong.Technically, starfish are not fish. There are not fish because they do not have brains or blood. So, scientists now want to start calling them sea stars. They are marine animals, and there are no sea stars that live in freshwater (National Geographic). Sea stars have been around for aabout 450 million years. (Wikipedia, Starfish) I know that you are probably thinking that is a long time, but jellyfish have been around for 500 million years and sponges have been around for 760 million years (Padi).Sea stars are marine invertebrates, and that means that they don’t have a spine. They are carnivores which means they only eat meat. Their scientific name is Asteroidea, and there are 2,000 species of sea stars. Their average lifespan in the wild is up to 35 years and they can grow over 9 inches wide and weigh up to 11 pounds. The most common sea stars are the ones that have five arms, but sea stars can have 10, 20, and even 40 arms (National Geographic)!Sea stars have bony, calcified skin that serves as a protection from their enemies, and most of them have vivid colors to either camouflage them or detract their predators. Sea stars have an amazing ability to regenerate limbs (the arms of a sea star are really called rays), though only a few of the many species of sea stars can do this. Sometimes they can even regenerate their entire bodies! They can do this because all of their vital organs are in their rays, and their nervous system is spread throughout their rays. (National Geographic Starfish) Sea stars probably look like they don’t move that much, but they have tube feet on the bottom of their rays that help them move (Missouri Botanical Gardens). Sea stars are echinoderms, and some of the their relatives are sea urchins and sand dollars. I don’t know if you remember reading this in the beginning, but sea stars don’t have brains or blood, although I did not tell you that their blood is actually filtered sea water. Sea stars do not have visible eyes like blobfish or pufferfish, and you probably think that they don’t have eyes at all, but they actually do have eyes! Sea stars’ eyes are at the tips of their rays. Sea stars’ eyes are a little different then our eyes because we can see color, but they can’t. They can see light and dark, so they can avoid running into to things when they move (National Geographic Starfish). Sea stars have a variety of different things that they eat. Sea stars usually eat barnacles, snails, sea urchins (their own relatives), clams, and mussels. (Missouri Botanical Gardens) Sea stars really don’t have a very specific place that they live, because they can basically live anywhere in the ocean. Some places they are found most often are the bottom of the sea floor, on rocks in and out of the water, and in coral reefs, which is where I saw them when I was snorkeling in the Galapagos. Sea stars are also capable of living 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) below the surface of the water (Wikipedia Starfish).Sadly, many sea stars in the Pacific Ocean have been dying thanks to a virus. The virus weakens the infected sea star leaving it open to a bacterial infection that reduces the sea star to a mound of white goo. This viral outbreak is happening from Alaska down to Baja California in Mexico, and scientists are working to prevent sea star populations in other areas and oceans from getting infected. (National Geographic) Luckily, sea stars live in every ocean on Earth, and hopefully you will get to see some in the wild, too! ResourcesBy Jane J. Lee, National Geographic “Starfish Are Still Dying, But Here's Reason for Hope” Published September 15, 2015 Website: 2. National Geographic, Starfish Website: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/starfish/3. Wikipedia, Starfish Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish4. Missouri Botanical Gardens Website: http://www.mbgnet.net/salt/coral/animals/echinod.htm5. Wikipedia, Marine Life Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_life6. Padi “10 of the oldest marine species that still exist today”Posted by Trevor Sanford 9 December, 2013 at 4:50 pm Website: http://www2.padi.com/blog/2013/12/09/10-of-the-oldest-marine-species-that-still-exist-today/ isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188026494 2017-09-15 17:01:28 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188026494 AHHH!!! Spiky Sea Stars are coming!!! No there not, I am just kidding! Well, maybe... isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188028199 2017-09-15 17:05:43 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188028199 National Geographic isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188030649 2017-09-15 17:11:43 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188030649 This is a great website that National Geographic has about Sea Stars! Double click and learn all about Sea Stars!!! isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188223918 2017-09-17 13:35:03 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188223918 11 Facts about Sea Stars you NEVER knew!!! isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188227656 2017-09-17 13:58:47 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188227656 This is a baby Sea Star!! So CUTE!!!! isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188228358 2017-09-17 14:05:07 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188228358 This is a Sea Star that is common in the Galapagos, and one that I saw all the time while I was snorkeling! This is a Panamic Cushion Sea Star. isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229443 2017-09-17 14:16:50 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229443 Sea Stars in the Galapagos come in all shapes and sizes! isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229711 2017-09-17 14:20:08 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229711 Chocolate Chip!!! That is actually a Sea Stars name? These Sea Stars are also in the Galapagos. isheerin https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229984 2017-09-17 14:23:09 UTC https://padlet.com/isheerin/z6x5ka2pp0m9/wish/188229984