Star-shaped echinoderms, not fish, with about 1,900 species on the seabed of every ocean. Most have five arms, can regrow lost arms, and some push their stomach out of their body to digest prey.
Quick answers
What is it?Echinoderm
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Mostly collected as curios, but eaten in some cultures.
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatCoast, Open ocean
ColoursOrange, Red, Purple
SizeSmall
LegsNone
Covered inSkin
Lives alone
Lives for5–35 years
Can swim
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Every ocean, from warm tropical seas to frigid polar waters, down to 6,000 m.
- What it eats
- Mostly predators of slow or fixed seabed animals such as molluscs; some filter-feed.
Did you know
Can regrow lost arms, and some push their stomach out to digest prey.
Starfish can shed arms to escape predators and grow them back.
Often confused with
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