Strange: up until a month ago, I had never seen a
six-armed starfish. And this last trip to the low tide mark, they were everywhere. Almost all the clamshells I picked up held at least one, and I even found a small one floating, holding onto fine algae hairs.
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| Baby star, belly-up |
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| Dark brown star. They all seem to like the hinge end of the clamshells. |
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| Two-toned six-armed star. |
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| Pale brown, dark brown, and grey patterns. |
I also found many mottled stars, all young. And none, not even one of our usual orange or purple stars, which were the ones most severely hit by the
sea star wasting syndrome. Their loss may have been the opportunity for these less common stars to expand their territory.
yes that is going to be an interesting aspect of this ongoing disease cycle. How to the unaffected creatures react and what happens when the affected population starts to rebound
ReplyDeleteStarfish wars! Or hybridization, mallard-style?
ReplyDelete