The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1896-02-21
Startish and oysters in the East.

Eastern OySCermon are considering
the necessity of employing some radi-
cal means to rid the bivalve beds of
their greatest enemy, the starfsh All
sorts of schemes for their extermina-
tion have been devised, but so far every
effort in this direction has had no
practical result. Que way is to catch
the starfsh The American Oyster
company of New York has just beaten
the record of the count ry for catching
starfsh. Two thousand bushels of the
enemy were captured in two weeks.
And 1900 bushels of starfsh is not an
extraordinary large number to consti-
tute one school, as those taken did.
The New York Press AYERS that it is
unusual to find as many as 100000 Of
these pests at work in a single bed
Oysters are almost the sole food of
starfsh. The starfish are one of the
most beautiful of all products of the
sea, and at the same time one of the
most harmless in appearance. If tax
en- up it bangles helplessly from the
hand, and is apparently lifeless and
incapable of feeling Yet no other
product of the sea is quite so tenacious
of life as the starfsh. If a living
specimen is torn in two and cast into
the sea the two halves will in the
course Of a few week become two
separate and perfect starfish. The
wounds heal easily and put forth fresh
rays where rays are missing. And the
starfsh seems to suffer no inconveni-
ence whatever from the loss OF one or
more of its rays. Occasionally star
fish will cross the path of lobster and
have one of its rays bitten off by the
crustacean. A little thing like that,
howeves, doesn't bothor the starfish.
The starfsh always has been Il
source of wonderment to the naturalist,
and we are still in the dark regarding
some Of its peculiar points. The var
iOus organs are either poorly defined
or do not exist at all. The stomach
and mouth of the starfish are at the
same location and are parts of each |
other. There are no jaws. The open
ing which may be termed the mouth
is formed of the flaps in the center of |
the body which hold the stomach in
place and are, in fact, the lower part
of it.
The method by which the starfsh
feeds is curious. 1t lies on the oyster
and folds its arms over it, so as to hold
itself firmly in position. Then it ap-
plies its mouth closely to its victim
and deliberately pushes its stomach
out through its mouth. 1t wraps the
mollush in the folds of the stomach
and slowly draws that organ back into
it's body. When the oyster has been
sucked out the shells are elected by
simply opening the stomach flaps.
There is preserved in the British
museum starfsh which remarkably
9xemplifes the voracitY of its genus.
This partic ular starfsh had swallowed
1 mollush entire and had dissolved all
out the hard shell. 1t had been un-
able to throw out the shell, and it be-
came fixture in the body of the star
fish.
By some wonderful power the star
fish is EN- abled to detect its prey at a
distance, even though no organs OF
sight, hearing or scent can be absolute
" defined. They are found in schools
nearly all the world over in cold sea
water If the water becomes too
warm they die. The eggs deposited by
,tarfsh are numerous. The parent
protects the eggs in chamber formed
oy elevatin itself on the tips OF its
rays. Thus the eggs are Matched.
When the young starfish are old
enough the parent casts them off to
shift for themselves.