We have located links that may give you full text access.
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review
Sensory Biology of Starfish-With Emphasis on Recent Discoveries in their Visual Ecology.
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2017 November 2
Asteroidea, starfish, constitutes a major part of the macrobenthos in most marine environments. Being members of the echinoderms, they have a nervous system with no well-defined central nervous system. Accordingly, starfish are assumed to pick up rather limited information from the surroundings, and it is also often assumed that most of their behaviors are guided by olfaction. Here, the sensory biology of starfish is reviewed in order to evaluate these assumptions. There is a vast amount of behavioral data dealing with mechanoreception, chemoreception, and combinations of the two (chemosensory-mediated rheotaxis), but the receptors have not yet been identified and almost nothing is known about the physiology behind these senses. What can be concluded from the available data is that starfish possess a sense of touch, some are able to sense gravity and many display positive rheotaxis, moving up currents. A number of starfish species use olfaction during foraging and prey localization. Interestingly, eyes are also present in most starfish, and recent studies have documented that in Linckia laevigata and Acanthaster planci vision plays a major role in seeking out their feeding grounds. The physiology and structure of the eyes filter out small moving objects while optimizing the contrast between the large stationary objects (e.g., coral boulders in the habitat) and the surrounding water. These new results demonstrate the importance of controlling the visual environment when conducting experiments on starfish behavior.
Full text links
Related Resources
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app