• The oldest sea star fossils are 444 million years old, a time when the first animals were only just venturing onto land.

  • Some sea stars are able to regenerate their whole body from just a single amputated arm.

  • Most sea stars have five arms, but some have up to 50.

  • The Northern Pacific sea star hitched a ride to southern Australia in ship ballast waters; it has since devastated marine ecosystems, costing millions of dollars to local fisheries.

  • Since summer 2013, an outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome in the Pacific Northwest has killed sea stars by the thousands. The cause is still unknown.

  • Three species of sea stars give birth to live young, some caringly brood juveniles for added protection, but most produce eggs that hatch into free-swimming larvae.

  • Crown-of-thorns sea stars can reach plague proportions. Each single star is able to consume an area of live coral the size of a king-size bed annually.

  • Ground-up sea stars can be used as a fertilizer.

  • A sea star will feed by extending its stomach out of its mouth and digesting the meal on the outside, before sucking up the resultant nutritious soup.

Love the ocean's creatures? So do we. Visit the Marine Life section of our website.

If you like sea stars you're going to love the Giant Spined Sea Star