ECHINODERMS. 



THE STARFISH. 



(Asterias.') 



Haunts and Habits. Dwellers by the sea are familiar 

 with the curious red "sea stars," "starfishes," or "five 

 fingers," as they are popularly known, which settle in 

 troops upon the beaches at times, with the wash of cur- 

 rents and tides. Along the northern coast of New Eng- 

 land they are very common. They should be studied 

 alive if possible, and in their native haunts ; for, from the 

 dried or alcoholic specimens common in collections, one 

 will obtain but a poor notion of the life these creatures 

 lead. Upon the beach one may see them sprawling flat 

 upon the sand, or slowly crawling over and among the 

 rocks with their arms, which are so rigid in preserved 

 specimens, bent in a great variety of positions. One may 

 sometimes be found with its arms folded about an oyster 

 or other mollusk on which it is feeding. 



Study of the Live Specimen. 1 1. Observe a fringe of 

 active cylindrical worm-like process about the tip of each 

 arm of a moving starfish. These are its tube feet. In an 



1 Live starfishes may be brought into the laboratory and kept alive for 

 several days if kept in a sufficient quantity of sea water, or if the supply 

 of oxygen in the water be once in a while renewed (as by dipping and 

 pouring it back into the vessel from some little height above the surface). 

 They may be had alive at some distance in the interior if shipped in kegs 

 of sea water, and studied very soon after their arrival. 



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