The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-07-04
STARFISH THREAT
TO OYSTER MEN
WHO ASK HELP
Wierd Creatures Wreakine Havoc
in Important Seafood
Industry


war against a five-armed invader
the starfish.
This weird creature gobbles up
millions of oysters every year,
wreaking havoc in one of Ameri-
cas- important food industries.
Oystermen have poured thousands
of dollars into a never-ending
battle to halt the marauders. They
have caught thousands of starfish,
but the predators keep right on
coming.
Congressman from Connecticut
seek legislation authorizing the
Interior Department to make 81
million campaign against the star
fish. Scientists are experimenting
with chemical treatment of oyster
beds. More research is needed to
find effective controls.
Related to Sea Urchins
Though the bane of oystermen,
the starfish has fascinating habits,
the National Geographic Society
reports. Its manner of life differs
markedly from that of most ami
mails known to man. The creature
is not a fish at all. 1t belongs to
the Echinodermata phylum, bio
logical grouping that includes the
sea urchins, brittle stars. sea Gu
cumbers, and sea lilies.
The starfish's body radiates as
many as 40 arms, though the five
armed starfish is best known.
Slender transparent tubes called
tube feet" stubhle the arms. Each
tube foot has a sucking disk at its
extremity.
To move, the starfish draws it
self forward on these suckers at
the rate of about six inches a
minute. Though slow, it has no
trouble catching CLANS, which are
even slower, or oysters, which
don't move at all.
To open an oyster-often nearly
as big as itself-the starfish
grasps its prey in many-armed
embrace. Hundreds of sucking
disks fasten onto the shell and be-
gin to tug in relays so that some
can rest while others pull. The
oyster can resist the pressure for
a while, but eventually it tires.
The shell opens. and the battle
is over.
The starfish then turns the low
err part of it's stomach inside out
and extends it through a mouth at
the center of its underside. The
stomach envelops the soft parts of
the oyster and digests them. When
the meal is over, the stomach
withdraws.
Regenerates Lost Arms
Menhaden and other fish prey on
the starfish, but it has a trick to
avoid destruction: it can lose an
arm and grow it back again. Even.
more startling, a severed arm can
develop into a complete starfish.
Before biologists made this dis
covery, oystermen would often cut
up the starfish they caught and
throw them back into the sea.
This simply increases the number
of pests.
Starfish are caught by dragging
huge mops over the sea bottom.
Tiny pincers on the starfish's arms
grasp the mop threads and do not
let go. These pincers act almost
Independently of the rest of the
starfish. They are believed to pro-
tect the skin-gills from parasites.
At breeding time, thousands of
eggs and sperm are shed into the
water, where fertilization occurs.
Curiously, an unfertilized egg may
develop normally in the laboratory
if it is stimulated with certain
acids or concentrated sea water.
The larva looks nothing at all
like the mature starfish. The arm
less little blob moves about by
means of tiny hairs. 1t settles on
some solid object and remains
fixed while the adult phase deveI-
ops inside its body.