It's oddly satisfying to watch that GIF of Patrick Star from the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon inhaling a table full of Krabby Patties.
In many instances, this has led to an increased interest in the real thing – and in turn, this has caused many to raise questions of their own.
One of those is whether starfish eat through hidden mouths, a claim made by some online.
Is there any truth to this?
Verdict:
FALSE
The starfish is a fascinating creature. Its basic functions, such as eating or moving, are unlike any other animal known to man.
Many might assume starfish inhale food like algae through hidden mouths.
They would be mistaken on two accounts.
Despite their harmless appearance, starfish are carnivorous and hunt animals like molluscs.
Unlike sea urchins, which chew food with teeth on their underside, starfish skip chewing entirely.
A starfish pushes its stomach, resembling a cloudy substance, out of its body and squeezes it between mollusc shells to digest them from the inside out.
But how do they see their prey if they don't have eyes?
Starfish actually have simple eyes at the end of each leg. The more legs they have, the more eyes they possess.
Their vision isn't great and is more of a blur, but it gets the job done.
Like most creatures that eat, starfish also need to defecate.
How do starfish do this? They use a tiny hole in the centre at the top.
Pretty neat for a creature without a brain, right?
