The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-03-24
THE STAR.FtSN.

Comes nations destiny.
-Nvasuse 1r0u6
THE sTAR.FtsH.
The Curious Habits Of This nsss interest
Ing Animal.
No animal is more common on the
sea-coast than the stay-6sh, andfor this
reason visitors to the sea-shore are very
apt to pass 1t by, and search for the
more attractive and rare sea-anen0nes.
But, in doing this. they pass BY one Of
the most interesting animals, and one
which has very curious habits. Drop
. star-fsh into glass filed with sea
water, and watch 1t for . few moments.
II 1t happens to drop on is bask. oae
of the five arms. which seem 70 rigid
when taken from the water, will begin
to bend. scores of small suckers will
begin to fasten themselves upon the
bottom Of the tank, and soon the star
viii be right side up.
He b restless creature when in N
aquarium, and will continually rove
about in search Of something to eat
He moves about with slow, regular
motion, which at first seems myste-
rious. There Is no irregular motion,
as in walking, but simply a slow pro-
pulsion along the bottom or up the
sides Of the tank, Is if pushed on BY
some continual pressure from behind.
In moment he mounts the perpendic-
ular side, and, through the transparent
glass, we have an opportunity to see
how he moves. In the center OF each
arm there is depression, and in each
depression there are several rows of
pure white suckers, extending from
the base to the tip of the arm. These
are his locomotive organs, and we'll do
they serve the purpose. There are
hundreds of them, elastic yet muscu-
lar, all working ut the same time to
propel the creature along. One lO0sens
its hold, stretches itself out and
takes another hold an eighth Of an
inch further up. Others follow, and
the creature moves. 1t is held firmly,
yet at the same time Is continually
moving.
How can these countless hundreds
of little feet all be worked by one
small being so low in the animal king
domp To do this the creature has q
most wonderful arrangement not un-
like system Of water works. There
IL Z tank, which he has always filled
with water pure and clear, and
strained from all foreign particles in
its passage through the brightly col
ored sieve-like ma1repore plate. From
this tank there are five tubes, each
leading into one Of the arms, and from
these main tubes countless numbers Of
small ones branch off to form the suck
ers. By filling or drawing Of the
water the suckers are detached, OF
made to cling to a surface in manner
very like boys leather sucker.
But see, it is approaching mussel
that is hanging by its finely woven
byssus to the side Of the tank. Can it
have designs upon this shell-fish?
Straight toward it the star moves; II
nears the mussel; the forward sucker
touches the shell; the star hesitates a
moment, than moves on faster than be-
fore. One arm has passed over the
mussel, and the mouth of the star-fsh
is just over the center of the she'll.
Surely it can do no harm to this we'll
defended shell-fish. Its mouth il 40
small that it can not swallow the mus.
sci, and surely it can not bore into the
hard shell.
The star-fish has stopped, the five
arms are curled around the mussel,
and it is held in strong embrace. We
watch the star-fish with renewed inter
est, but al we see is the same motion
less attitude, no change in position,
nothing 10 indicate change. The stal
seems satisfied to remain as it is, Is il
at rest Soon thin membrane encir
cles the mussel, but nothing further i:
seen. We revisit the aquarium at the
end of an hour, and the star is in the
same position; at the end of two hour
there Is no change; but in three hour
we return to see the star-fish nestled In
the darkest corner of the aquarium
while the unfortunate mussel hangs II
its old position, quite dead, the shell
gaping open, and numerous little
shrimp feeding on the half-digeste(
parts left by the destructive star-fsh.
What has been done? Simply this
the star-fish, unable to take the shell
into its stomach, has accommodated
itself to circumstances, and extended
its stomach out of its mouth, and di
gested the shell-fish with its stomach
entirely outside of its body. In thi'
silent manner hordes of star-fish in
wade oyster beds, and in single nigh
destroy thousands. The oystermen
recognizing their destructive power
formerly had the stupid habit Of cut
ting every star-fsh that they caugb
into three or four pieces and returnin,
them to the water, not knowing tina
each piece had the power of reprodsc
ing itself, and that, for each star thu
torn into three or four pieces, two o
three new individuals were formed.-
Ralph s. Tdrr, in Congregationalist.