Starfish Have Heads??

This past week a new study has solved a marine mystery that has stumped scientists for centuries. Starfish, also known as sea stars, are animals that have drawn a lot of attention for their interesting anatomy and characteristics. Starfish are marine creatures that are a part of a group called echinoderms. They are named after their star-shaped appearance. Starfish have very unique characteristics, such as having no blood and no brain, as well as having the ability to regenerate lost body parts.

For centuries, scientists believed that starfish have no head because they have no discernable head and because they were thought to have a bilateral body plan. In recent research published earlier this week there is evidence that suggests not only do starfish have a head but they are entirely made up of heads. The way it was described was “It’s as if the sea star is completely missing a trunk and is best described as just a head crawling along the seafloor,” according to Laurent Formery, the lead researcher.

A breakthrough in research occurred when a new technological method (micro-computed tomography scanning) was used, and it identified that starfish actually have a pentaradial body plan. The genetic makeup of sea stars was observed to determine what specific RNA sequences were in the cells. All animals have a genetic code that impacts how animals’ bodies are formed. It can be described as the blueprint for how the animal is formed. Researchers studied the genes in each limb of the sea star and to their surprise, most of the genes resembled head genes.

This new research leads researchers to backtrack to the past determined fact that starfish do not have brains. If they do in fact contain a head, then it is a possibility that they could have brains. Further research should be able to conclude if the nervous system found in sea stars is essentially the brain. These unusual findings are giving researchers more insight into modest organisms that can represent what humans evolved from. There are still many questions like, “How did Sea Stars develop into a star shape?” or “Are sea stars’ brains connected somehow? This research has had an unexpected answer and there will be further research done on these questions.

Sources:

HARRIET ENGBERS

Former Guest Writer at The City Voice