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Creature gallery

purple seastar!

12/17/2013

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Picture
This purple sea (Pisaster ochraceus) star can be found in a variety of colours! Further south in Washington and Oregon the ochre variety is more prevalent, and up here on Vancouver Island purple is far more common. 

This little fella looks like Tarzan swinging on a rope! It's very common to find these sea stars on dock pilings and rocky shores where they hunt for mussels, barnacles, limpets and snails. On their underside they have thousands of tiny tube feet which they control with their hydro-vasuclar system (which works just like the hydraulic systems on machines!)They have a yellow spot on the top and centre called the madroporite which is the organ they use to control this system. 

With a tight grip they can open a muscle, climb on top of it and then evert (eject) their stomachs to digest their food outside of their bodies! Not the most polite of dinner guests! 

Recently they have been subject to a massive die-off event due to Sea Star Wasting Syndrome which is causing them to literally melt into goo! 

                                Read more about it on our site here: Sea Star Wasting Syndrome
                                                            Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd



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    Welcome to the 12 days of fish-mas gallery!

    At Christmas time in 2013 I made this gallery while working at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre! 

    Every day for twelve days we will be posted new marine creature with a photo and description! 
    It's like an advent calendar filled with fish, crabs and strange creatures beyond your wildest dreams!... 
    Okay, well that doesn't sound that appealing, but I'm sure you'll love all the photos that we took while volunteering at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre! Enjoy! 

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LiteraSea is a website about education, ocean literacy, marine science and current events written by Andrew Murgatroyd and Asta Mail
Andrew Murgatroyd BSc.
andrew@literasea.ca


Asta Mail MSc.
asta@literasea.ca

  • Welcome!
  • Blogs
    • LiteraSea Blog
    • Marine Science >
      • Article Index
    • Adventure Blog
    • In the News
  • Educational Materials
    • Creature Gallery
    • Ocean Literacy
    • Ocean Plastics >
      • Plastic Facts
      • Educational Materials
    • Ocean Acidification >
      • Overview
      • Educational Materials
      • Journals & Reference
    • Great Lakes
    • Conservation
    • Climate Change
    • Math >
      • Radar Horizon
  • Meet the Authors
  • Contact