216 
THE BOOK OF FISHES 
1 Photograph from Dr. Hugh M. Smith 
STARFISH ATTACKING AN OYSTER 
The weak conquers the strong when the starfish come in out of deep water to raid an oyster bed. 
A test of endurance takes place as the starfish clamps itself over the lips of a rough oyster shell. Doggedly 
it clings until the muscle holding the shell together relaxes from fatigue. Then the starfish inserts its 
stomach and swallows the tender helpless organism. 
set of shellfish enemies, provided with 
drills, begin their attacks and extract the 
soft parts through minute holes made in 
valves. In some localities various snail- 
like mollusks do immense damage to the 
beds of oysters in their first year. 
The oyster growers of Long Island 
Sound and adjacent waters suffer large 
losses from the inroads of starfishes, 
which come in from deep water and 
move in waves over the bottom, devour¬ 
ing every oyster in their path and some¬ 
times destroying several hundred thou¬ 
sand bushels of marketable oysters in 
one State in a single season. It is re¬ 
markable that a weak creature like the 
common starfish should be able to prey 
on an animal so strongly fortified as an 
oyster. The starfish acts by attaching 
itself to the lips of the oyster-shell and 
exerting a steady and long-sustained 
traction with each of its numerous small 
suckers. After a time the powerful ad¬ 
ductor muscle of the oyster becomes fa¬ 
tigued, the valves open, and the starfish 
inserts its stomach and devours the help¬ 
less oyster at leisure. 
Other enemies of the grown oyster are 
fishes with powerful jaws armed with 
crushing teeth. On the Atlantic coast 
the most destructive fish is the Black 
Drum, a school of which may literally 
clean out an oyster-bed in one night. On 
the Pacific coast a species of stingray is 
the chief offender, and to stop its rav¬ 
ages the oyster growers have been 
obliged to inclose the beds with stout 
palisades. 
