Are starfish actually fish?

What-A-Mess

As these creatures are echinoderms and not actually fish, most marine biologists prefer to replace the term starfish with the less misleading term sea star. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish Jul 09 06, 2:18 PM

Jessie4646a

Starfish (more correctly known as sea stars as they are only very distantly related to fish), are marine invertebrates belonging to the kingdom animalia, phylum Echinodermata, class Asteroidea. The names sea star and starfish are also (incorrectly) used for the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea. They exhibit a superficially radial symmetry. Starfish typically have five or more "arms" which radiate from an indistinct disk (pentaradial symmetry). In fact, the evolutionary ancestors of echinoderms are believed to have had bilateral symmetry, and starfish do exhibit some superficial remnant of this body structure, which is evident in their larval pluteus forms. Starfish do not rely on a jointed, movable skeleton for support and locomotion (though they are protected by their skeleton), but instead possess a hydraulic water vascular system that aids in locomotion. The water vascular system has many projections called tube feet, located on the ventral face of the starfish's arms, which function in locomotion and aid with feeding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish [Added reference link - McG] Jul 12 07, 2:43 AM

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