Cabrillo Aquarium Presentations

Image from Cabrillo Aquarium, San Pedro, CA, March 17, 2006

Pisaster brevispinus can feed on clams buried deep beneath the sandy surface it crawls over (see below). It extends central tube feet and also its stomach.

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Literature

Veldhuizen, H. D., and D. W. Phillips. 1978. Prey capture by Pisaster brevispinus (Asteroidea: Echinodermata) on soft substrate, Marine Biology 48(1): 89-97.

See also:
Smith L. S. 1961. Clam-digging behaviour in the starfish, Pisaster brevispinus (Stimpson 1857). Behaviour 18:148-153.
Mauzey, K.P., C. Birkeland, and P. K. Dayton. 1968. Feeding behavior of asteroids and escape responses of their prey in the Puget Sound region. Ecology 49(4): 603-619.
Thompson, M., D. Drolet, and J. H. Himmelman. 2005. Localization of infaunal prey by the sea star Leptasterias polaris, Marine Biology 146(5): 887-894 [plus see here for supplementary photographs of feeding seastars].
Zwarts, L., and J. Wanink. 1989. Siphon size and burying depth in deposit- and suspension-feeding benthic bivalves, Marine Biology 100(2): 227-240.