Starfishes

We started this year with stars, I said let's continue with stars.

You know starfishes, they are cute creatures.

Have you ever come across it when you go to the sea in the summer?

They have five arms and are usually found in sandy places. There would be dried ones somewhere in the house, they were also in Kefken when I was a child, we would come across them while swimming in shallow places on the beach.

It has a prickly skin, but the thorns do not sting your hand like that, I think it would be more accurate to say that it has a rough structure, it has different colors, but we mostly had sand colored ones there.

When I was little, I would hold it in my hand and examine it. With my little mind, I would wonder where its eyes were. I would look for its eyes.

It doesn't have a head to have eyes. He wiggles and moves his arms in his hands, but apart from having five arms, that is, resembling a star, there is nothing very interesting about him.

Actually, the starfish is such an interesting creature, isn't it?

There are so many interesting creatures in the world. They just live on their own. Many of them don't even have eyes to see the world.

Are there any other sensory organs that sense light?

After all, since they move their arms when touched, it means that starfish are sensitive to movement.

He must be feeling cold and heat too.

But he has neither eyes nor ears. It doesn't have a head to have a brain inside. He probably doesn't have a brain either.

So he can't think. But somehow he lives.

I guess he finds a lover or something for himself in this blind and deaf state. Is it possible for him to reproduce in another way?

There is a joke where the scientist examined the flea for some reason, whereas if he had examined the starfish, we would now know whether it has ears or whether it can hear.

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Jokes aside, I did some research on the internet.

There are about 1500 species of starfish in the world.

Starfish are found everywhere, from tropical regions to cold polar sea waters, from shallow areas to depths of 6 thousand meters.

They are considered invertebrates.

Actually, I think its backbone is shell-shaped, after all, its shape remains intact when dried.

Although they usually have five arms, there are also some with more arms. There were those with seven arms, nine arms, and even many more arms.

Its surface can be smooth, grained or spiky, and there are mostly red and orange, and very brightly colored ones in the world.

It is written on the internet that there are gray-toned ones, brown ones, and even bluish ones that we have there.

Sea stars move with small tube-shaped legs called hydraulic systems on their undersides, which can take in water. Some of them may also have suction cups on their feet.

I don't want to get into too technical topics in this article, but I think starfish are an interesting creature.

Even having five arms is an interesting feature in their nature.

We can even say that since some species are actually invasive for underwater corals, they can actually be dangerous for the balance of nature.

In fact, sea stars are somewhat poisonous creatures, but despite this, there are people who cook and eat them in some countries. Especially in China. The Chinese eat whatever they find anyway.

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Another interesting feature is that if one of its arms is somehow severed, it can regenerate.

Some species can even drop their arms when in danger, like lizards dropping their tails.

Their reproduction can occur both sexually and asexually. I don't really understand how it can be asexual, if I were to say it divides in some way, I guess it wouldn't be like that.

Fossils dating back 450 million years have been found, but these fossils were highly fragmented because they did not have a backbone.

***

I don't know, is it because they have a shape like the star on our flag? I love sea stars very much.

They seem like harmless creatures to me, but I really don't like that some of their species are invasive.

The fact that they did not have a brain made me feel like they were very poor creatures. Their job is to find and eat food to live on the seabed. Many species feed on single-celled creatures or water fungi that are generally only found at the bottom.

According to the classification made by scientists according to their characteristics, two of the 10 different general groups have already become extinct. Since there are 1500 species of starfish, who knows how many species have become extinct.

***

It is written on the internet that studies have been conducted on its ability to regenerate damaged limbs.

Most likely, biologists are studying and learning the cellular details of this feature and, if possible, trying to regenerate human organs in this way.

Can something like that happen?

Who knows, maybe in the future they will actually find a way to regenerate organs and cure many diseases caused by organ failure.

Although I am one of those who think that there are too many people in this world.

In other words, with the medical developments in the last couple of centuries, the human population has been increasing out of control.

How many times has the world population increased since I was a child?

And if they find a solution for this organ regeneration, lifespans will also be extended. 

I don't know where this will end.

Anyway, this will be the subject of another article.

Let the starfish be enough for today.

As I said, I love these cute creatures.

I wish we still had them there, but if we go there in the summer, I wish I could find one or two like when I was little.

With love and respect to everyone from Moscow.