Post #14637

Pycnopodia: The largest starfish is also the fastest. Without it, the ocean is doomed to be enslaved by sea urchins Who lives at the bottom of the ocean? Children will answer this simple question very clearly and loudly, and biologists will list the animals until the evening. However, there is a bottom dweller that both of them recognize - the starfish. But today we will talk about the most titled species of these animals - the sunflower star, or pycnopodia. Why the most titled? Well, firstly, because sunflower stars are the largest among their relatives. A creeping “flower” can fatten itself up to a meter in diameter. With such a size, five processes, like standard stars, are clearly not enough. At least, that’s what the starfish itself decided, increasing their number by 3-4 times! But that’s another thing, turn the starfish upside down and you will see hundreds of thousands more micro-legs (photo 4)! Such a number of walking and grasping accessories gives the animal a second title - the title of the fastest sea star. Pycnopodia “rush” at a speed of one meter per minute! Not impressive? And if I say that her relatives have an average acceleration of about 5 times less? What, do you still doubt our heroine’s speed abilities? Oh well. The main thing is that the pycnopodia itself does not need high speeds to be happy - the predator’s prey barely crawls, if at all, it moves, so it has no problems catching up. You can find “sunflower fields” on the picturesque reliefs of the North Pacific Ocean. Here there are underwater algae forests rich in a variety of living creatures. In the hunt for its inhabitants, the animal honed its skills to the level of a serial killer. She easily catches up with sea urchins, hermit crabs and weakened fish. By the way, in reality, the friendship between SpongeBob and Patrick would last exactly as long as the pycnopodia would creep up to the sea sponge. Their stars are eaten with the same pleasure as everyone else. Neither scales, nor chitinous shell, nor even needles can save you from the invasion of a starfish! The star swallows its prey whole, leaving naked skeletons after its meal. And if the food turns out to be too big, the pycnopodia will release its stomach and begin to digest lunch just like that! But now there is every chance that pycnopodia will completely disappear. Moreover, the sapiens are not even to blame. Starfish were suddenly hit by an unknown infection 10 years ago, and they died en masse - only a few small populations remained. Without a bottom-dwelling super-predator, the sea urchins became so prolific that they almost completely ate up the seaweed forests. Scientists are trying to breed pycnopodia in captivity and release them into their old habitats, but so far the population of giant Patricks is still hanging by a thread. - - - - - We have a huge group, which is 11 years old and there are many zoologists who write tons of text every day from the field in which they are sp