If you’re lucky and once you are on the ocean, you will see sea stars. They come in all sizes and colors, but have you ever wondered how it megalopae or multi-armed creature manages to live in the oceans, remaining so different from other animals? In PRSB, a study was published that not only highlighted that starfish have eyes, but found that she could see in the dark. Starfish may seem quite inanimate, like a clam sitting on the bottom of the ocean and absorbing nutrients from the water. But in reality it is not.
To see and glow in the dark
Most starfish have a rough eye on the tip of each arrow. These compound eyes contain multiple lenses (ommatidia), each of which generates one pixel of the image, which sees the creature. Tropical sea stars are able to see rough images that allow the animals to stay closer to home.
Scientists have found that some species of deep sea of stars, discovered at a depth of 1 km below the surface, where no sunlight penetrates, can see, despite the darkness. Most of the species that can see in the dark depths of the ocean, have more sensitive eyes, but I see more rude images. These starfish seem to distinguish objects more clearly than their tropical counterparts living in the bright shallows.
Scientists propose different explanations for this. Some species, apparently, can see clearly in the horizontal direction, but less distinctly in the vertical, which is absolutely true for the body, which lies on the seabed. In other species, apparently less able to detect changes that they see over time.
These two species are also bioluminescent, that is capable of producing short flashes of light on the surface of your body. The combination of these light flashes and the ability to see clearly allows these deep-sea the stars to communicate with potential partners.
Regeneration
Hungry predators, crabs or fish can bite off the starfish arrows. If you go to fight, some species of starfish voluntarily lose their limbs to the rest of the body could escape. Moreover, they can regenerate a whole limb. If you find a sea star that has one arrow less than others, it is likely that this is the new limb.
On sea water
Of the starfish is not the usual set of muscles. Instead, they move with the help of sea water, which is under pressure in the vascular system of their bodies. They draw sea water through the pores, it then passes through internal channels in the limbs, and those already set into motion thousands of the tubular “legs”.
Muscles and valves within each of the tube squeeze the water that allows them to stretch and to get involved, creating a movement as while walking feet, but multiplied hundreds of times. At the end of each tubular leg is a tiny suction Cup which can stick to surfaces and helps the stars to accelerate.
The release of the stomach
Sea stars – extremely efficient predators of the sea bottom, feeding on a wide range of products – mussels, clams, oysters. They sneak up on their prey and use the legs to simultaneously capture prey and to push her to the seabed.
If the prey is small enough, the sea star will swallow the whole animal, blowing your stomach, located in the center. Hold position for a deadly grip, starfish will gradually dissolve the edible soft tissues using enzymes inside the stomach and then throw away the inedible hard parts of the shell.
But if the sacrifice is too great to place her in the stomach, the sea star will try first to open the sash shell, and then push your stomach in, so he can destroy the soft tissue in the victim and digest it right in her house, as if sucked through a straw.
Starfish are amazing!
Starfish can see in the dark (and not only)
Ilya Hel