Mrs. Heflebower's 3rd Grade class questions

[Emerick Elementary]

This is our second class at Emerick and we have some questions about our chocolate chip starfish and anemones.

We tried not to duplicate questions.

 

Where are the eyes on the starfish?

 

How do the starfish get their bumps?

 

What do starfish eat?

 

How does a starfish move?

 

Does an anemone eat?

 

How do they reproduce or multiply?

 

 

 

 

[Origami]

They don't have eyes! (Not the way you and I think of them at least.) But they have a good sense of smell - though it's not like ours: They don't have a nose either.

 

Their bumps are natural and unique to the type of starfish that they are. The pattern of bumps on a chocolate chip star is unique to that one, individual star. There is not another sea star exactly like it.

 

They scavange from the bottom; they also eat bacteria, small worms, and shrimps that live in the sand. Some types of sea stars - like the Crown of Thorns -  will eat corals. Some even will catch fish when they're sleeping!

 

A sea star moves using its tube-shaped "feet" that you can see in the groove under each arm.

 

Yes, anemones do eat. They eat small particles of food and bacteria from the water, but occasionally can catch fish and other, larger creatures.

 

Sea stars use fertilized eggs to reproduce, but can also divide into two parts that can both live and grow to become separate sea stars!

[L8 2 RISE]

Great to see you on here!

 

The eyes of a starfish are on the very end of each of their arms.  They are very basic and small and can mainly only see light or shade.

 

Not sure about the bumps however I know they're called tubercles

 

Certain starfish eat different things.  Chocolate Chip's will eat corals (mainly soft corals), sponges, tubeworms, clams, other smaller starfish, left over food, dead stuff, etc.  Others will eat corals exclusively, snails, algae, or pretty much anything you can think of.

 

Starfish move using hundreds to thousands of tube feet along the base of their legs.  They operate these using their "water vascular system" which is a hydraulic system that pumps water to and from the feet allowing them to suck these feet onto any surface and attach themselves.

 

Yes, anemones eat in two ways, one is through photosynthesis via symbiotic algae.  This algae hosts inside of the anemone in a similar way as it does in corals.  The process of the algae's photosynthesis is able to be processed by the anemone and used as food.  Anemones also use their tentacles to sting, stun, and hold onto prey.  The anemone then uses it's tentacles to move the pray into their mouth at the center of the body.  You can try this with a dead fish or piece of food.  Put the food into the anemone and watch what happens!

 

Both starfish and anemones will reproduce by dividing or by eggs depending on the species.  With many starfish, if they lose a leg, as long as it has part of the oral disk attached, the leg will grow into a new starfish.  Asterina stars, which are very common in our aquariums, do this very often and you can often see them pulling themselves apart in order to reproduce.  Similarly, many anemones will split into two new anemones by simply pulling themselves apart.  People can also speed up this process by cutting the anemone in half with a scalpal, which will work as long as there is a piece of the mouth on both parts.  Other anemones and stars reproduce from eggs and have their own genders.  Both genders will release their "parts of the egg" into the water, the egg will then hatch and the anemone will slowly form.