Georgia Arnold

Mrs. Cook-Science

October 22nd, 2015

Sea Star

The Sea Star, or Asterias forbesi, is a reddish brown color with five legs, each with smaller legs used for smelling and or eating. They are usually around four to six inches. It is in the eukaryote domain, animalia kingdom, echinodermata phylum, asteroidea class, forcipulata order, asterinida family, asterias genus, and Forbesi species. They live in shallow to medium deep coastal waters anywhere from the coast of Florida to Rhode Island. Sea stars swallow their prey whole, a behavioral adaptation, and can regrow their legs, both a structural and functional adaptation. The Sea Star is an ectothermic heterotroph which means it is cold blooded and it relies on other organisms for food. It feeds on crustaceans and barnacles. Predators include rays, medium to big fish, but mainly sharks. Sea Stars can change gender. The sea star has radial symmetry which means that it can be divided in half anywhere and will always

be symmetrical.