Why in News?
The Chocolate Chip Sea Star is in the news because scientists discovered that it possesses a unique, built-in natural optic fibre network at the tips of its arms.
Profile and Taxonomy
- Scientific Name: Protoreaster nodosus, commonly referred to as the Chocolate Chip Sea Star or Horned Sea Star.
- Classification: Belongs to the phylum Echinodermata and class Asteroidea.
- Lifespan: Possesses an estimated average lifespan of 17 years in the wild.
Physical Features
- Size: Individuals can grow quite large, reaching up to 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter.
- Appearance: Features a tan or creamy-white base body accented by distinct dark-brown, cone-shaped projections that strongly look like chocolate chips.
- The "Chips": These spikes are actually hardened anatomical knobs or tubercles that act as armour to deter predators.
- Unique Identification: No two sea stars share the exact same configuration, making every individual's pattern completely unique.
Habitat and Range
- Geographical Distribution: Extensively found across the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from East Africa to Japan and Australia.
- Environment: Prefer shallow coastal waters up to 100 feet deep, specifically thriving in seagrass beds, muddy lagoons, and sandy reef flats.
Biological Traits & Behaviour
- Regeneration: Capable of growing back lost limbs over time, provided its central body disc remains completely intact.
- Autotomy: When threatened by a predator, it can intentionally shed an arm as an escape mechanism.
- Movement: Glides slowly using rows of hundreds of tiny tube feet powered by an internal hydraulic water vascular system.
- Diet: Carnivorous scavengers that feed on detritus, algae, sponges, small invertebrates, and soft coral tissues.
- External Digestion: Feeds uniquely by pushing its stomach out through its mouth to engulf and digest prey outside its body.
Threats and Conservation
- Over-harvesting: Heavily targeted by humans to be dried and sold as souvenirs, home decorations, or items for the marine aquarium trade.
- Habitat Destruction: Highly vulnerable to global coral reef degradation and the loss of seagrass ecosystems.
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