Can star fish swim?« Back to Questions List

Most of us have a mindset that creatures living in water are all fish or relative of fish. But this is actually not so. There are different varieties of creatures living deep down the water. Not all breathe, move or feed the same way. One interesting creature is the star fish which is not said to be a fish at all. They belong to a section of marine members called echinoderms. Apart from star fish, there are sea urchins, sea stars, sand dollars and many more that belong to echinoderms family. They have identical body structure with a common centre from which attachments (or arms) emerge outward from the centre of the body. Except for a few exceptions, all echinoderms have the above defined body structure.

Echinoderms live in the seas and cannot be found on land or fresh water. There is a rich and varied life at the very bottom of the sea. Here mostly algae supply provides shelter for these echinoderms. These creatures mostly feed upon decaying matter on the sea floor. 
 
The star fish has about 5 arms while some species may also have as many as 40 arms. If an arm gets broken, a new one soon grows in its place. The star fish does not swim instead creeps about with its rubbery tube feet. It has around hundreds of rubbery tube feet.  These feet are tipped with suction cup and projecting from grooves on the underside of the arms. They are also helpful in letting star fish hold on to rocks. Sea cucumbers are cousins of starfish. They also use the tube feet to move about instead of swimming.

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