What Does a Starfish Eat?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Nadine Slimak at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium here in Sarasota, Florida. We're here today talking about starfish and what they eat. Starfish are actually pretty interesting animals. Most of them, we also call sea stars have five arms and they're symmetrical. Starfish have the unique ability to be able to regenerate or to grow back arms that have fallen off. One of the more interesting things about starfish is that they're found in the world's oceans. That is, they're found in every ocean all over the world. The Indo-Pacific region perhaps has the most diverse number of starfish. There are more than 1,800 of different species of starfish living worldwide. One of the unique characteristics about starfish is that they have two stomachs. One allows them to digest their prey, the other one, actually, they're able to extend so they can, they can actually envelop their prey and then digest it and have food. That allows starfish to eat things that are much larger than them. Common prey items for starfish include bivalves such as clams and oysters. Using their arms they're able to open the oyster and get out the meat. Much the same way we do when we're at a restaurant. At Mote Marine Laboratory, I'm Nadine Slimak."