STARFISHES 63 



of the rays are used to drag the valves apart. Once the oyster 

 has been forced to relax its muscles and permit the valves to 

 open, the Starfish inserts the edge of its stomach between the 

 gaping shells, and applies it to the soft body of the oyster, which 

 is soon completely digested. The fisherfolk, who, very naturally, 

 cordially detest the Starfish, not only on account of its love of 

 oysters, but because of the way it will suck the bait from the 

 hooks on their fishing-lines, are often given to tearing their foes 

 asunder and flinging the halves back into the sea, a proceeding 

 which does not always accomplish the destruction of their ancient 

 foes, but may actually lead to an increase in their numbers, for 

 the Starfish has most remarkable powers of replacing lost parts, 

 so that the two halves thrown back into the sea are quite 

 capable of growing into two complete Starfishes. 



Besides the Common Starfish (Asterias rubens), which we 

 have just been considering, there are a number of others belonging 

 to the same division of the Echinoderma (the Asteroidea) to be 

 found round our coasts, which offer many points of interest. It 

 is only possible to draw attention to one or two of them here. 

 A very pretty Starfish, comparatively rare between tide marks, 

 but more frequently brought up in the trawl, is the Rosy Cribrella 

 (Cribrella (Henricia) sanguinolenta). Its five rounded, tapering 

 rays have on their under surface narrow ambulacral grooves, while 

 the tube-feet are arranged in two rows. The eggs are large, and 

 the larvae do not swim at the surface of the sea, but glide about 

 for a short time only at the bottom, their development to the adult 

 form being very rapid in its progress. 



The Common Sun-Star (Solaster papposa), although, as its 

 name denotes, an abundant form, is nevertheless one of the hand- 

 some:^ of our British Starfishes. Both this and the Purple Sun- 

 Star (Solaster endeca) have gained their popular name from their 

 general appearance, which resembles a conventional painting of 

 the sun, as it is generally depicted upon the signboard of a way- 

 side inn. In the Common Sun-Star the short, stout rays number 

 from twelve to as many as fifteen, surrounding the flat body-disk 

 as a regular fringe, while in the Purple Sun-Star they number 

 nine to eleven. 



At low tide on the south and west coasts of England the 

 interesting little Gibbous Starfish (Asterina gibbosa) may often be 



