Theme for July 19-25: Twinkle, twinkle little star...

[H2Andy]

why am i thinking i don't want to be eating when i read the answer?

 

[justleesa]

Tell me when you're done...lol

 

[H2Andy]

lol just kidding.. not eating now

 

[justleesa]

lol just kidding.. not eating now

You see the star like pattern? that is an opening...he opens up and drops out his innards and digests straight of the coral.

 

[H2Andy]

lol, yeah... i knew that... i thought this one did something particularly gross, like
order KFC or something

 

[Dee]

You know how this type of starfish eats, don't you???

Yeah...gross! I used to have a few starfish in my aquarium. They sort of got trained to climb up the glass in front when they were hungry. I'd give them piece of shrimp and stuff and what them poke their guts out and digest it. Sure didn't take long either.

Kinda cool, tho!

 

[XJae]

XJae,

I'm not 100% sure, but your pictures look suspicisly like the Northern Pacific Sea Star which are considered to be an aquatic pest here in OZ. During Summer & Autumn, I was involved in an eraditication program for these little buggers, as they had been found in a new, isolated area and had not spawned yet. Considering that females release approx 20million eggs when they spawn, if you don't catch them before they spawn for the first time it really is a lost cause.

Mel

Maybe these are their Atlantic cousin or possibly traveled to the east coast in ballast water,
the same way they arrived in your neck of the woods.

Here's a couple of more from last week, from the USS Algol, NJ's largest artificial reef at 459'.
Sits in 125 fsw, the deck at 110', 52º.