First, I should probably say I'm not going to call them "starfish," because they are not fish and it drives me crazy. Instead, I'm going to call them sea stars, which is more accurate.
Second... I should introduce exactly what they are. Sea stars are echinoderms, which are a diverse group of marine inverts with tube-feet and five part radially symmetrical bodies. That's kind of a weird definition... but when we get into exactly what all that means it will make more sense.
There are about 2,000 species of sea stars, ranging in variability from cold-water dwelling 9 legged species all the way to 40 legged temperate dwelling species. That's right, not all sea stars have exactly 5 legs.
Sea stars can regenerate lost arms, much like a lizard can regrow a tail. And sometimes, if an arm is removed with part of the central disc attached, it will grow another sea star. This is the basis of my project, so there will be a lot more information on this later.
These are just some of the interesting facts about sea stars.
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