THE STAR FISH. 



One of the most common objects found 

 along our New England sea coast is the 

 star fish, called by the seamen "Five- 

 fingered Jack." The fact of its being 

 common does not at all imply that its 

 habits are commonly known. The great 

 difficulty of watching it in its native 

 haunts has been a drawback to getting 

 better acquainted with it, but when taken 

 to an aquarium it has been found to be 

 an exceedingly interesting little star. At 

 low tide you may find hundreds of them 

 clinging to the rocks, sea moss or on the 

 sandy bottom, but they prefer deep wa- 

 ter. Their color varies from a dark rich 

 brown to a reddish, and often a chocolate 

 shade, sometimes lighter ; but no matter 

 the shade, they are always attractive. 



The upper side is slightly convex, 

 rough and tuberculous ; the under side 

 is soft and contains all the vital and loco- 

 motory organs. Immediately upon being 

 taken from the water the soft under parts 

 seem to shrink away and nothing sub- 

 stantial remains but the upper surface. 

 This is perforated with pores, through 

 which the water enters to all parts of 

 the body by channels. Very near the 

 center is a small opening through which 

 the water is admitted to a strong, rather 

 elastic, tube, which is encircled by a se- 

 ries of rings. Now turn the star fish 

 over and you can see that this tube opens 

 into a ring about the mouth, while similar 

 tubes stretch out to the arms. From these 

 cross tubes little fibers extend, terminat- 

 ing in discs. These are the true organs 

 of locomotion, and are called ambulacra. 

 They move very slowly and are not at 

 all clumsy, but have even been called 

 graceful by some naturalists. 



A portion of these ambulacra are made 

 fast by suction while the rest of the body 

 is drawn forward ; then the first are re- 

 laxed and the process repeated, thus they 

 travel in the deep waters. 



It is quite evident that the five bright 

 red eyes at the tip of each ray are of 

 some use in helping them on their jour- 

 neys ; but just how much they can see is 



not quite known. When a large object ap- 

 pears before them they prepare to sur- 

 mount it, often going up very steep sides 

 and down again as easily as though on a 

 ■ level stretch, often standing on the tip of 

 one ray and sometimes on the five, thus 

 resembling a five-legged stool. 



The heart, situated near the opening on 

 the back, is supplied with a set of blood 

 vessels. They also have respiratory or- 

 gans and a nervous system, but, judging 

 from the manner they endure vivisection, 

 their nervous system must be of a very 

 low order, for if the}^ are broken in pieces 

 the missing parts will soon grow again — 

 in fact, they do not seem to be disturbed 

 in the least no more than if it were a cast- 

 off garment, and evidently go about as 

 happy with the remaining rays as with 

 the complete body, and, what is still more 

 strange, the broken ray will grow a com- 

 plete set of arms and a new body. This 

 is one way of reproduction, so if you wish 

 to kill a star fish don't break it in pieces. 

 The only sure way of making an end 

 to their lives is to drop them in fresh wa- 

 ter, when they immediately die. 



It is very interesting to watch them 

 care for their eggs. These are kept in 

 pouches at the base of the rays, and when 

 emitted through an opening there pro- 

 vided, are actually brooded as a hen her 

 chicks, by arching the central part of the 

 body and bending the rays down, and if 

 the eggs are scattered they take great 

 pains to collect them again, often travel- 

 ing long distances for them. 



The star fish consumes a large amount 

 of food ; you would hardly think one 

 stomach could care for so much, but each 

 ray has an additional stomach, and all 

 need food. Their favorite food is the 

 whelk, a small black-shelled, snail-like 

 mollusk. Indeed, they eat many varieties 

 of the mollusk. 



They are also very fond of oysters. 

 You would be interested to watch the 

 star fish as he slowly works his way 

 along until directly over the oyster, then 

 folds his five arms around it, holding it 



79 



