Appearance and lifestyle:
Sea stars (we don’t call them starfish anymore, because they’re not really fish!) have five arms, each with its own set of respiratory, digestive and reproductive organs! Each arm also has hundreds of tiny tube feet that enable the sea stars to creep slowly over the reef. Don’t worry if you see a sea star with only four or even three arms. Sea stars can regrow their arms – in fact a single arm can regenerate a whole body!
Habitat:
They are found in oceans all over the world.
Diet:
The sea star diet consists mostly of molluscs, such as snails, oysters, and clams. However, their diet is not nearly as fascinating as the way they eat. The mouth is on the underside and the anus on the topside. Sea stars feed by turning their stomachs inside out and releasing enzymes to digest the food externally. It can take a sea stars several hours to pull a mussel apart and slowly digest it.
Threats:
They face threats such as a sickness called sea star wasting disease, predators that want to eat them, climate change and pollution.