Starfish-
the starfish has multiple ways to get food into its body. The starfish is a carnivore and eats almost any animal. It mostly eats oysters, and it uses the suction from its tube feet to pry open the shell. It then puts it cardiac stomach outside its body to get the food from the oyster. Once its eaten enough food the stomach goes back into the body and moves to the other stomach (pyloric) to separate the indigestible from the digestible. Another way it uses its tube feet to find food is though smell and sight. Starfish don't have the best sight, but each of the five arms have smell. When one arm smells food all others give control to that arm to get to the food.
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Kelsey Smith
Kelsey Smith
Such a strange way to get food! So the problem the sea star needs to solve is obtaining food? What are the two systems involved? The sped up video on edmodo of the sea stars and worms really highlights this food finding adaptation.
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