Spiny Starfish

Quite possibly one of the ocean's most interesting denizens (and that’s saying something), starfish are somewhat alien creatures that slowly move along the seafloor. Part of the animal group known as echinoderms, many of their attributes and behaviors are straight out of a late-night science fiction movie. There are more than 2000 species of starfish and not single one can survive in the freshwater. They crawl along the sand using hundreds of tube-like feet located on their underside, have salt water for blood, and can even regenerate limbs lost to predators. Starfish house most of their vital organs in their arms. This means that some species can regenerate an entirely new sea star from just one arm and a portion of the star's central disc. Even stranger, they eat with their stomachs inside-out! A sea star's mouth is on its underside. When it catches its food, the sea star will wrap its arms around the animal's shell and pull it open just slightly. Then it does something amazing: the