Sea Stars
Who needs a head when you have five arms to work with? Sea stars and their relatives are unique among animals for their five-sided bodies.
Many arms of care
How do you examine a sea star's arm more than once when their arms are identical? There's no particular right, left, up or down, so taking X-rays, diagnosing, drawing samples, or performing surgery is a bit tricky! Shedd's animal care team figured out a way to orient the many arms of these invertebrates, based on their anatomy, to properly care for them.
What does a sea star look like when it's feeding? Watch this time-lapsed video to find out!
“Meeting a sea star in Sea Star Touch is such a wonderful experience, as something so alien looking actually senses, eats, interacts, moves just as we do. ”
George Parsons, Director of Animal Planning and Dive Operations
Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star
Ochre Sea Star
Bat Sea Star
Chocolate Chip Sea Star