Watch This Starfish Protect Her Babies From Danger | Deep Look

preview_player
Показать описание
Unlike most sea stars, six-rayed sea star moms are VERY involved in their kids' lives, caressing and protecting their babies for months. When they're big enough, the youngsters venture out on their own to ruthlessly hunt down their tiny prey.

DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED in San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

---
The California shoreline is home to the tiny six-rayed sea star. About the size of a bottle cap, these diminutive starfish have an unusually attentive style of raising their young.

“Most sea stars use a broadcast spawning method,” says Berenice Baca-Ceballos, a graduate student at San Francisco State University. Broadcast spawners release huge numbers of eggs and sperm directly into the water. The lucky ones meet and develop into larvae that grow up all on their own. Most never reach adulthood.

But mama six-rayed stars of the genus Leptasterias are different. “The mother sea star will sit on her eggs for about two to three months until her eggs develop, hatch, and grow into little juvenile sea stars,” says Baca-Ceballos. “She’s like a mother chicken. The female sea star sits on her eggs until the little baby sea stars, that look like delicate living snowflakes, are ready to adventure out.“

This style of holding on to their young as they develop is called brooding. While six-rayed sea stars have many fewer offspring than most sea stars, they spend more time taking care of their young.

“By protecting her young, the six-rayed star increases the chances that her babies will survive,” Baca- Ceballos says.

--- How do starfish move?
Starfish move using hydraulic pressure. They have a system of canals, called the water vascular system, which run through their bodies. The canals connect to a large number of tiny flexible tube feet that end in adhesive pads. A starfish contracts muscles to adjust the hydraulic pressure in the tube feet, allowing it to crawl along surfaces.

--- How do starfish eat?
Starfish are mostly carnivores. Many types of starfish eat shellfish like mussels, clams and snails. A starfish will use its numerous tube feet to slowly pry open its prey’s shell. Once it has opened the shell enough, the starfish will extend its stomach out through its mouth to digest its prey alive. Some types of starfish also eat small fish, plankton and detritus.

--- Do starfish have eyes?
Starfish usually have a simple eyespot at the tip of each arm. Also called ocelli, these eyespots can only sense light and dark.

---+ For more information:

The Cohen Lab at San Francisco State University studies six-rayed sea stars of the genus Leptasterias.

---+ More great Deep Look episodes:

Ever Seen a Starfish Gallop? | Deep LooK

Sea Urchins Pull Themselves Inside Out to Be Reborn | Deep Look

A Sand Dollar’s Breakfast Is Totally Metal | Deep Look

---+ Shoutout!

🏆Congratulations🏆 to the following fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for correctly answering our GIF challenge! The answer is "brachiolar arms" that are reabsorbed when they sea star's permanent arms emerge.

@mohammedyaser1357
@dumbbirdwayne
@nuzwo2723
@callystarizka-tata7892
@magicdolphin3090

---+ Thank you to our top Patreon supporters ($10+ per month)!

Kevin Sholar
Burt Humburg
Karen Reynolds
Daisuke Goto
Chris B Emrick
Companion Cube
Cristen Rasmussen
Laurel Przybylski
David Deshpande
Wade Tregaskis
Adam Cleaver
Kevin William Walker
hoxtom
Mark Jobes
El Samuels
Carrie Mukaida
Dot
Jessica Hiraoka
Noreen Herrington
H.M. Andrew
Louis O'Neill
J Schumacher
Drspaceman0
The Mighty X
Walter Tschinkel
Joan Klivans
R B
BulletproofFrog
Mehdi
Lily, Vinny, Izzy Altschuler
Jellyman
Levi Cai
Titania Juang
Roberta K Wright
Elizabeth Ann Ditz
SueEllen McCann
MrBeeMovie
STEPHANIE DOLE
Smoulder the Dragon
Hank Poppe
xkyoirre
KW
Jeremiah Sullivan
吳怡彰
wormy boi
Marco Narajos

---+ Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social:


---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS member station in San Francisco, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the members of KQED.
#starfish #seastar #deeplook
Рекомендации по теме
Комментарии
Автор

The baby starfish chasing the baby snail is the cutest predation vid ever...!!!

MA-URAG_na_MORO
Автор

Its amazing how starfish look innocent and harmless enough, but once you see them slowly, but aggressively pursuing a source of food, all of a sudden they're pretty scary.

bohgirl
Автор

3:58 that snail was RUNNING for its life

diana_svy
Автор

They look like baby popcorns!! So cute

da
Автор

I'm in love with the six jingles whenever the arms are counted!
Music's use in immersing the viewer in these short videos is so understated and unappreciated!

zoz
Автор

Carnivorous little snowflakes that’s how a boomer would describe me as

LegoCookieDoggie
Автор

The music is always on point but Seth Samuel really knocked it out of the park this time. Putting it in 6/4 was inspired.

JETAlone
Автор

Shoutout to the Deep Look team especially the sound crew. The dings added to the music when counting the arms was a really nice touch 😊

Nimbos
Автор

I learn something new on Deep Look every time and I'm so proud of it. I never knew there was a 6 limbed starfish that was this adorable and caring! Thanks for sharing 🫶🏾🌻

DeeDee_Viera
Автор

I think this is my favorite video of yours! The music and editing are so spot on. The little 6-note riff someone also pointed out, the way the baby sea star makes up the Deep Look icon in the intro, the clever writing, it's all made so thoughtfully! 🥹

timlopez
Автор

I had no idea ther were K strategy starfish! Soooo cute! They really do look like snowflakes and look at those bright red eyespots they got! They got their mother's eyes....

AphidKirby
Автор

Shoutout to the composer, he went hard for this episode

Ella
Автор

i can't believe they have 6 armsss

Lucas_lol
Автор

Aww sea star puppies! So cute (until they start eating other babies lol)

adpirtle
Автор

Awww look at those little baby starfish! They're so CUTE

BlueberryPlanet
Автор

Leptasterias!!! I help study these thru the Cohen lab at SFSU. I’ve been waiting for this episode <3. Words cannot describe how small and perfect the newly emerged babies are irl. In northern cali there are 2 overlapping species L. aquealis and L. pusilla, both have gone locally extinct in places because of sea star wasting but are starting to slowly bounce back. The two species are almost identical in appearance, but based off genetic data we’re finding that one seems to prefer the lower intertidal with lots of wave exposure and one seems to prefer more upper intertidal where they are protected from waves.

bighugebug
Автор

Oh, these are adorable, like tiny crocheted doilies! Thank you all so much for your meticulous and charming work. I once wrote a starfish poem - seems like the right gift for you.

Le Poisson (Etoile) d’Avril

An unwary periwinkle wandered
along a tidepool’s edge
as the dark of evening fell.

A thousand stars began to sparkle
round the crescent of the moon;
before him, all the sky reflected
in the mirror of the water.

Suddenly, one star moved toward him
and as he watched, bemused,
it took him gently in its arms.

--MC 4/2019

chezmoi
Автор

the music and editing in this episode was amazing!

melonmatv
Автор

Fascinating! Now I wonder about male and female starfish. I thought most were hermaphrodites. Very cool.

I liked seeing the entire larval stage develop!

TragoudistrosMPH
Автор

Amazing job on the music on this one!!! so good

rdnry