Featured Creatures

We’re thrilled when we see a magnificent sunflower sea star. The sunflower star, Pycnopodia helianthoides, may not be a “charismatic megafauna” like the most well-known apex predators. But, indeed, this large sea star is a powerful predator and the apex one in some of its world.

photo by Cheryl MooreheadWalking the beach you may be lucky enough to find an intact sand dollar. These are the bleached exoskeleton of dead animals. What do you know about live sand dollars? Notice the five-rayed star on the top of your sand dollar. Sand dollars are echinoderms, related to sea stars and sea urchins. Like all echinoderms, their bodies are based on five-part symmetry (watch our video on the body plan of these animals: Five part symmetry).

Imagine a creature with such a radically different body plan that we, bilateral humans, can’t really fathom how they have been so successful. Sea stars, and other echinoderms, move and feed like no other animals. They are animals that followed a different evolutionary path after evolving from the same bilateral ancestors as us.

Those pin-cushion looking creatures you want to avoid touching or stepping on are sea urchins. There are about 950 species living in all oceans and depth zones, from the intertidal to 16,000 feet deep. Sea urchins are echinoderms, related to sea stars and sea cucumbers. Although that might not seem immediately obvious, sea urchins have five-part  symmetry (watch our video on the body plan of these animals: Five part symmetry)

Even though sea cucumbers don’t look much like sea stars and sea urchins, they are all echinoderms. If you look on the underside of a sea cucumber, you will see it is covered with tube feet. Some have surprising defenses to predators  – we might call them gross. When attacked, the cucumber spews out sticky threads from its anus, tangling the hunter. Others can expel their entire guts out their anus. This may confuse, repel or feed predators. As extreme as this defense sounds, a cucumber can quickly regenerate its inner organs. Photo. By François Michonneau   

All the Better to Hug You With - Sunflower star: Pycnopodia helianthoidesThis big boy is one of the largest sea stars in the world. It can grow up to one meter (39 inches) across and weigh as much as a large family cat. The sunflower star gets its name from its many arms: it can have up to 24. More arms mean more tube feet – up to 15,000. Despite its girth, the sunflower star can move as quickly as one meter (40 inches) in a minute. Abalone don’t stand a chance! Its skeleton is softer and more flexible than other sea stars. It’s a badass predator that feeds on small and large marine creatures.Unfortunately, the sunflower star has not escaped Sea Star Wasting Syndrome plaguing stars along the west coast.The disease begins with white lesions and dying tissue and leads to a "melting" of the sea star. Scientists have found evidence...

Most of us see sea stars in shallow coastal waters—or as images of these colorful creatures. Basket stars are shy during the day and live in shallow and deep waters.