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2 Comments How do starfishes move?
Kids ASK! about Pets & Animals
According to the website, “Starfish dissection”, “each sea star has hundreds of tiny feet on the bottom of each ray. These are tube feet, or podia. These tiny feet can be filled with sea water. The vascular system of the sea star is also filled with sea water. By moving water from the vascular system into the tiny feet, the sea star can make a foot move by expanding it. This is how sea stars move around.
Muscles within the feet are used to retract them. Each ray of a sea star has a light sensitive organ called an eyespot. Though it cannot see nearly as well as we do, sea stars can detect light and its general direction. They have some idea of where they are going.”
Source: Starfish dissection. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from Animal dissections Web site: http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/
starfish_dissection2.htm
If you want to find out more information about starfishes, you may refer to the following books :
Sea stars by Jody Sullivan
Publisher: Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2006
Call Number: J P 593.9 RAK
Click here to check our catalogue for item availability.
Starfish, urchins & other echinoderms by Daniel Gilpin
Publisher: Minneapolis, MN : Compass Point Books, 2006
Call Number: J 593.9 GIL
Click here to check our catalogue for item availability.
Starfish by Lloyd G. Douglas
Publisher: Danbury, Conn. : Children’s Press, 2005
Call Number: J P 593.9 DOU
Click here to check our catalogue for item availability.
Sea stars by Lynn M. Stone
Publisher: Vero Beach, Fla. : Rourke Pub., c2006
Call Number: J 593.9 STO
Click here to check our catalogue for item availability.
Starfish by Rebecca Stefoff
Publisher: New York : Benchmark Books, c1997
Call Number: J 593.9 STE
Click here to check our catalogue for item availability.
All websites are last accessed on 15 September 2007.
Answered by Ms Joanna Zhang Lin, Librarian, Children’s Services
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Hi, my name is Caroline Smith and I want to know how star fish move because I am 7 years old and I don’t know those words can someone please send me an email explaining how star fish move becasue I have to do a real cool project on them! Thanks! Please help me!
Dear Caroline,
Thank you for your enquiry. I’ve tried to answer the question using simpler terms, and I hope it will be useful to you.
Starfish moves through its tube feet which is found on the bottom side of the starfish. Each tube foot is tiny, but there are many of them. A starfish may have hundreds or even thousands of tube feet arranged in neat rows along its rays! The starfish controls its tube feet with water pressure. The starfish sucks in water through a filtered opening on the top of its body to fill special cavities in its body. Then it uses its muscles to pump the water into the tube feet. As the feet fill, they expand. Muscles in the foot wall then direct the movement of the fully extended foot. The muscles can also push water out of the foot to make it smaller. By alternately filling, using, and emptying different tube feet, the sea star can move in any direction it likes.
Source: Creatures of the Sea – Sea Stars
By Kris Hirschmann
Call no: J 593.9 HIR
You may also wish to refer to the following books for more information on starfish.
1) Title Starfish, urchins & other echinoderms / by Daniel Gilpin.
Author Gilpin, Daniel.
Call no: J 593.9 GIL
2) Title Starfish / by Lloyd G. Douglas.
Author Douglas, Lloyd G.
Call no: JP 593.9 DOU
3) Title The sea star / Kris Hirschmann.
Author Hirschmann, Kris, 1967-
Call no: J 593.9 HIR
The availability of these titles can be checked online at http://www.nlb.gov.sg
Thank you for using the ASK! Service. If you need any further assistance, feel free to approach our library staff in the library or email to us.