Royal Starfish

We just learned about the Velcro Sea Star.

Another type of starfish is the Royal Starfish, also called the astropecten articulatus.

This type of starfish lives in the West Atlantic.
It has dark blue legs with orange edges.


(from: wikipedia - astropecten articulatus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Woolly Lemur

Velcro Sea Star

We just learned about the Asterias Amurensis.

Another type of starfish is the Velcro Sea Star, also called the Novodina Antillensis.

This type of starfish lives in the deap sea in tropical areas of the Atlantic Ocean.

It has 10-14 long arms with eyespots on the ends.

These starfish live on the branches of corals, and stick their long arms into the water to catch small animals drifing by.

Because the poky arms stick to things, they got the nickname velcro.


(from: wikipedia - novodinia antillensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indri

Asterias Amurensis

We just learned about the Heliaster Microbrachius.

Another type of starfish is the Asterias Amurensis, also called the Northern Pacific seastar or Japanese common starfish.

This type of starfish can grow to be 50 centimeters, and can be orange, yellow, red or purple.

Where this starfish lives it is called an invasive species, because there are so many of them they hurt the environment.


(from: wikipedia - asterias amurensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aye Aye

Heliaster microbrachius

We just learned about the Freyella Elegans.

Another type of starfish is Heliaster microbrachius.

This starfish grows to be about 4 inches, and can have lots more arms than most starfish, and also a bigger disc for the center of their body.

They can be purple, black, yellow or white, and they live in the Pacific Ocean near Mexico.


(from: wikipedia - heliaster microbrachius)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Greater Dwarf Lemur

Freyella Elegans

We just learned about the Nepanthia Belcheri.

Another type of starfish is the Freyella Elegans.

This is a type of starfish that lives in very deep sea, at around 10,000 ft deep in the Atlantic ocean.

Their arms grow to about 8 inches long.


(from: wikipedia - freyella elegans)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Greater Dwarf Lemur

Nepanthia Belcheri

We just learned about the Red Knobbed Sea Star.

Another kind of starfish is the Nepanthia Belcheri.

This type of starfish lives near Australia, and grows to be a few inches wide.
One very interesting thing about this starfish is that it can split itself in half and turn itself into two starfishes.


(from: wikipedia - nepanthia belcheri)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Philippine Tarsier

Red Knobbed Sea Star

We just learned about the Magnificent Star.

Another kind of starfish is the Red Knobbed Sea Star, also called the protoreaster lincki, red spine star, or African sea star.

These starfish grow to be about 12 inches, and has bright re tubercles sticking up.
They have gray bodies with red stripes, and a big central disk.

The only place to find these starfish is in the Indian Ocean, in sandy or muddy sea beds.


(from: wikipedia - protoreaster lincki)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Brown Woolly Monkey

Magnificent Star

We just learned about the Brisingida.

Another type of starfish is the Magnificent Star, or luidia magnifica.

This starfish lives in the Pacific Ocean.
It has 10 arms, and comes in colors like yellow and red, or brown and olive.


(from: wikipedia - luida magnifica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red-Faced Spider Monkey

Brisingida

We just learned about the Crown of Thorns Starfish.

Another type of starfish is the Brisingida.

These animals can have up to 20 arms, and they live in the deep seas over 1,000 meters deep.


(from: wikipedia - brisingida)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Howler

Crown of Thorns Starfish

We just learned about the Sunflower Sea Star.

Another type of starfish is the Crown of Thorns Starfish, also called acanthaster planci.

This starfish grows to be about 14 inches, and his sharp spikes on top that hurt and sting if the starfish is stepped on.
They live around Australia, and come in colors of purple, blue, red, grey, brown, green or yellow.

The name crown of thorns comes from the Bible story of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.
Because the starfish kind of looks like a thorny crown the people named it that.



(from: wikipedia - crown of thorns starfish)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Colombian Red Howler

Sunflower Sea Star

We just learned about the Eight Armed Sea Star.

Another type of starfish is the Sunflower Sea Star also called the pycnopodia helianthoides.

These starfishes live in the pacific, and are the biggest starfish in the world growing to be about 3 feet wide.
They can have up to 24 arms, and can come in many colors like orange, yellow, red, brown, or purple.
If they get attacked by another animal, they can regrow them within a few weeks.


(from: wikipedia - sunflower sea star)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mantled Howler

Eight-Armed Sea Star

We just learned about the Necklace Starfish.

Another type of starfish is the Eight-Armed Sea Star.

This animal lives in the pacific, and it's coloring could be brown/green, brown/orange or brown/black.
It has pointed arms, a flat top and is usually about 10 inches wide.

These starfish live underwater in the muddy sand, burying themselves so they can't be seen.
They eat things like sea urchins, sand dollars, sea cucumbers or snails.


(from: wikipedia - luidia maculata)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Bearded Saki

Necklace Starfish

We just learned about the Antarctic Sun Starfish.

Another type of starfish is the Necklace Starfish, also called the Fromia Monilis or Tiled Starfish.

This starfish lives in the Indian or Pacific oceans, near Australia and Japan.
They can grow to be around 12 inches wide, they have a red circle in the middle, their arm tips are red, and the rest of their arms are white.

These starfish are sometimes used in aquariums, but they have to actually keep them dirty for the starfish to eat the algea or the starfish will starve to death.
In the wild they can eat on other things like sponges or very small sea creatures.


(from: wikipedia - fromia monilis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: White Faced Saki

Antarctic Sun Starfish

We just learned about the Astropecten Aranciacus.

Another type of starfish is the Antarctic Sun Starfish, also called the wolftrap starfish or labidiaster annulatus.

This type of starfish comes from the very cold waters around Antarctica.

Most starfish usually have five arms, but this type of starfish can have over 40 arms!
They grow to be about 24 inches wide.


(from: wikipedia - labidiaster annulatus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bald Uakari

Astropecten Aranciacus

We just learned about the American Hog-Nosed Skunk, and a lot of other animals in that same family.

Let's learn about some different kinds of starfish!

One type of starfish is the Astropecten Aranciacus.

This starfish lives in the east part of the Atlantic ocean, and also in the Mediterranean Sea.
It lives right by the coast, and when the water goes out for low tide it buries itself into the sand.

The top of this animal is reddish orange with some yellow, and the bottom is all white.
It has two sets of spiney pokey parts on the outside of its legs called inferomarginal spines and superomarginal spines.

For food these starfish eat molluscs by crawling over them and then using their mouth on the bottom to eat them.


(from: wikipedia - astropecten aranciacus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Azaras Night Monkey

American Hog-Nosed Skunk

We just learned about the Striped Skunk.

Another animal in the same family is the American Hog-Nosed Skunk, or the conepatus leuconotus.

This is one of the biggest skunks in the world, growing over 80 centimeters long.
Sometimes this skunk is called the rooter skunk, because it likes to overturn rocks and look under things, which is sometimes called rooting.

These skunks have a big white back and totally white tail. It's not just a stripe on their back, the whole top of their back is white.

Just like other skunks these animals can spray a smelly liquid at someone if they are scared.
Even though they are skunks they are a lot like badgers and are really good at clawing and digging things.


(from: wikipedia - american hog-nosed skunk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grey Bellied Night Monkey

Striped Skunk

We just learned about the South American Coati.

Another animal that is related to the Coati is the Striped Skunk.

These animals live in North America, in Mexico, the US and Canada.
They grow to be about 60 centimeters, and weigh around 4 kilograms.
Striped skunks have black fur with a white stripe going down their back.

Skunks are very well known for the way they can spray someone with a stinky liquid if they are defending themselves.
They can spray several meters away, to keep themselves safe!


(from: wikipedia - striped skunk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Capped Squirrel Monkey

South American Coati

We just learned about the Northern Olingo.

Another animal in the same family is the South American Coati, also called the ring-tailed coati or the nasua nasua.

This animal is about 10 pounds, and has about 40 inches long.
It can be in a few different colors like black or brown, with rings on its tail and some white marks on its face.

These coati live in South America, mostly in the forests.


(from: wikipedia - south american coati)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tufted Capuchin

Northern Olingo

We just learned about the Ringtail.

Another type of animal in the same family is the Northern Olingo, also called the bushy-tailed olingo or the bassaricyon gabbii.

This small animal only grows to be about 40 centimeters, and weighs a little over 1 kilogram.

They live mostly in the trees of Central America area in countries like Nicaragua and Panama.


(from: wikipedia - northern olingo)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wedge Capped Capuchin

Ringtail

We just learned about the Raccoon.

Another animal in the same family is the Ringtail, also called ringtail cat, miner's cat, civet cat, mountain cat, cat squirrel, Pacific cat, band-tailed cat, raccoon fox, night monkey, cacomistle or bassariscus astutus.

These animals grow to be about 35 centimeters, and weigh about 1 kilogram.
Some people have kept these ringtails as pets, which is where it gets the nickname miner's cat because it was kept by miners who were exploring the west.


(from: wikipedia - ringtail)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Golden Lion Tamarin