Sea star

## Sea star (A.K.A. Starfish)

**Starfish**, or **sea stars**, are echinoderms that live in all of the world's oceans. They usually have five arms, but some species have more.

*SpongeBob SquarePants* features a starfish, Patrick, as the deuteragonist. Stephen Hillenburg designed Patrick as a starfish to embody the animal's nature; according to Hillenburg, starfish look "dumb and slow", but they can become "very active and aggressive."

## Characters

The characters that belong to this phylum are:

* Patrick Star
* Herb Star
* Margie Star
* Marty
* Janet
* Billy Bob Star
* Sam Star
* Primitive Star
* Patar
* Pecos Patrick
* Patrick Revere
* Ed
* PatTron
* Patrick Not-Star
* Dream Patrick
* Mini Patricks
* Mini Brain Patricks
* Maw Tucket
* Abominable Starfish
* New Patrick
* Ice Cream King
* Starfish minister
* Starfish mummy

## Description

### Shape

The most common depiction of starfish in the show is a star and having five points on them. The top point represents the top of the head, the left and right middle points represent the arms, and the bottom two represent legs.

### Features

In real-life, starfish have the following characteristics:

* Hard plates under their skin instead of a backbone.
* Spines or spicules covering the top (or dorsal) surface.
* Hundreds of tube feet, which help feeding and movement.
* A mouth that is located in the centre of their bottom side (the ventral surface). When a sea star feeds, it is able to push the lower part of its stomach out through its mouth. The stomach then covers the prey and digestion begins.
* Structures on the ends of their arms that help them to detect changes in light.
* A good sense of smell.
* The ability to regenerate a lost limb. Some sea stars can even regenerate a new animal from one limb.
* A complex network of nerves, called a nerve net, that serves the same purpose as the central nervous system in humans.
* The ability to reproduce by releasing a free-swimming larval stage, as well as through fission or asexual reproduction. This means that the sea star can physically divide itself into 2 to reproduce.
* Chemical defences under their skin to deter predators.

In the show, many of the starfish are represented as not having any head hair. They are also shown to not have noses. However, Patrick has been shown with one a few times due to negative continuity, and eventually gets one of his own in "No Nose Knows."

### Color

Starfish in real-life are brightly coloured in various shades of red or orange, while others are blue, grey or brown. Starfish are shown to be pink in color in the show, with darker pink spots on them.

## Families

### Patrick and Gary's family

Patrick has a long family history linked to royalty. His family tree is also comprised of many different species, not just starfish.

## Habitats

Starfish species inhabit all of the world's oceans. Habitats range from tropical coral reefs, rocky shores, tidal pools, mud, and sand to kelp forests, seagrass meadows and the deep-sea floor down to at least 6,000 m (20,000 ft). The greatest diversity of species occurs in coastal areas.

Patrick lives under his rock. Sam is also seen making a sand rock that is similar to Patrick's.