A sea star (Asteroidea) has some real tricks up its…sleeves? Perhaps most bizarre is the way this echinoderm digests its food thanks to their unusual anatomy.
Sea stars:
π Can βevertβ (turn inside-out) a portion of their stomach to capture prey and then pull it back into their body.
π To digest their prey, such as mussels, sponges, and other small animals sea stars have hepatic caeca in their arms that release enzymes to help with digestion
π Remove waste ammonia by diffusion through their feet and papulae (also called skin gills).
Thank you to π¨π¦ Catherine Cheung is a scientific and medical illustrator based in Toronto.
![sea star](http://staging.careersinscience.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Catherine_Seastar-A4-fixed-copy-Catherine-Cheung-2.jpg)
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