This MILLEPEDE SEA STAR ate a whole POTATO URCHIN that was entirely too big for his belly so he split himself wide open. Are you crazy, dude?
After strong west winds yesterday, Lighthouse Beach on Sanibel had some very cool BEACH BLING washing up this morning but this takes the cake… the potato cake, that is. heehee
I could tell that the STARFISH was very much alive since his little tube feet and spines on the underside were sticking out and moving around to tell me he wanted to go back into the water so he could finish this shellicious breakfast. (Of course I understood him-Â I talk Starfish) In the next photo, the hole in the middle of his body is his mouth so, as you can see, the POTATO URCHIN (or HEART URCHIN) that he ate is barely visible from this side.Â
But looking at this view…. Holy Cowrie! The whole URCHIN is there but his belly wasn’t big enough.
In my humble opinion, it seems to reason that since SEA STARS can regrow arms if they break off, I’m assuming once this guy finishes his meal he will be able to repair his torn body and live happily ever after. So I put him back in the Gulf to digest this massive meal and hopefully live another day.
Check out this short video I took so you can see the whole dang thing!
But the funnier thing is…. our friends Dick and Mary had just told us that they found a dead MILLIPEDE STARFISH on the beach that had swallowed half a bivalve. Oh my! They just sent me these iPhone photos so I could share them with you too. One valve of the ALTERNATE TELLIN bivalve shell is inside him and the other is hanging out of his mouth on the underside. This is so wild!
This is the other side that you can see that one valve is still hanging out. Crazy! Unfortunately, this SEA STAR wasn’t the brightest bulb on the tree so neither guy made it out alive from this meal.
PS- I’ve interchanged the words “SEA STAR” and “STARFISH” a few times throughout this post. I know “SEA STAR” (I intended these to be said aloud with air quotes instead of real ” ” so go ahead, air quote away!) is the more socially acceptable way to say “STARFISH” these days but I’m stuck with calling them “STARFISH” since I grew up calling them that. Just so you know. :\
That is crazy!
Well now! Your clever narrative sure softened those graphic hungry “starfish” photos. :) Here’s hoping your kindness saved another life! (And thanks from the educational viewpoint.)
I hope I never get that hungry! ;-)
“I can’t believe I ate the whooooooole thing!”
this is just amazing&we loved the video!
Talk about eating so much that you’re going to explode… Portion control sea star, portion control…
Amazing video and photos! They certainly reinforce the concept of natural selection. The “brightest bulb in the box” should probably not be reproducing! Sadly, that’s a big starfish that has been growing for a while. Does anybody know the normal life span of one of these gippers?
First time I’ve ever seen anything like this :O !
How can I send u pics from lover’s key?
It was unbelievable at the tip of the pass
Wow” really? You can post to http://www.Facebook.com/iLoveShelling or iLoveShelling on twitter or iLoveShelling on Instagram by tagging me. I’d love to see them
Thanks for sharing! Unbelievable!
I couldn’t believe that starfish (that’s what I called them when I was growing up too) would eat so much it would burst out the other side. I noticed you put up information about your camera on the right side of your page. I was having trouble with my camera resently and thought I would have to get a new one, but it fixed itself. Now I know what to buy when the time comes-thanks Pam. Pat
Pat- I love that you saw that!!!! I often get asked about my camera so that’s why I thought I’d make a page about it so I didn’t have to answer each time I was asked. I got so excited about this starfish that I forgot to mention it in this post! Haha I’ll try to remember next one.
Coolest thing ever. Wow!
Freeky Deeky!
Did the starfish die?
Wow, amazing!! I would have thought that the urchin would just pop out the back once it ripped open and not stay in there. I guess the starfish has good gripping capabilities in it’s belly. And the bivalve…. so interesting. I would never have thought they would go after anything that big or hard (bivalve shell). I assumed they ate small things. Boy was I wrong. Great lesson and viideo Pam.
We will be there in May and just hope to see some of those beautiful sites!!
Can’t wait!!
Wow, that is really bizarre. I also would never have believed they would do those things!
Wow that is just amazing. The greedy thing. I would never have thought they would do that.
Thanks for sharing the quirks of nature! :-)
I am lucky enough to live on the Jurassic Coast here is Dorset, south coast of England. Last week my daughter and I went fossil hunting and found plenty of fossils to fill a rucksack. Our greatest finds were a Nautiloid and an ammonite the size of a football (soccer ball in USA) and a dinner plate respectively. Can post photos if you would like.
Love your website, keep up the good work.
I saw a gelatinous blob looking thing that appeared to be ingesting a crab! Was that a jellyfish or some other weird sea life?