Starry Creatures
What kind of animal has eyes and feet on its arms and pushes its stomach out of its body when it eats? A starfish!
Starfish have tough-skinned bodies shaped like a star. They usually have five arms, sometimes more. Underneath each arm there are little tubes. These are the feet of the starfish. And the small reddish spots at the end of each arm are its eyes!
When it finds a clam, the starfish climbs on top of it. Its tube feet stick to the clamshell like glue. Then the starfish slowly begins to pull the shell apart. Soon the shell is a little way open-just a tiny crack. The starfish then pushes its stomach through an opening in its body and between the two halves of the shell. Juices from the starfish’s stomach turn the clam to mush. The starfish digests, or breaks down, the clam inside the clam’s own shell.
If a starfish loses an arm, it grows a new one! In fact, if the starfish is torn in two, each half grows into a new starfish.