lifespand and dangers

Morgan Hunt
Science A
March 2, 09
5th Month
Asteroidean Life Span and Dangers
Some Sea Stars can live up to 35 years. Sea starts don’t have to worry to much about pray due to their texture and some species having bright colors. However, when they are young, like when they are in the planktonic stage of life they are most likely to be eaten. Triton Trumpet, Harlequin Shrimp , and the Reef Crab are all predators of the Sea Stars. Considering their size during those stages, any organism bigger than it could eat it. However, once they are adults, the northern bottlenose whale is a predator for this creature.
Crown-of-thorns (Acanthaster planci) is one of the largest and the most venomous starfishes; it clearly does not have many if any predators due to is appearance- many thorns sticking out from its body are a clear sign to stay away.
Starfish have a very hard structure, weird texture, and hang around near the bottom, so it makes sense that they do no have too many predators unless they are just very young. I’m sure they can’t defend themselves well so they depend on their appearance to help them out. Bright colors can usually signal not to eat them, thorns also are a giveaway that they should not be eaten.
If Star fish are even attacked by a predator and lose an arm, they would be able to regenerate it.
Zuba T. Invertabrates ECHINODERMS in Starfish Retrieved March 2, 09
from http://www.starfish.ch/reef/echinoderms.html#starfish
Mulcrone, R. 2005. "Asteroidea" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 02, 2008 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Asteroidea.html.