Primes

Prime numbers are common in plants but not so common with animals unless you are talking about starfish. The eleven-armed sea star, Coscinasterias muricata, is our largest starfish and very common here in South Australia. There were plenty of these starfish under Edithburgh Jetty but this guy was the only one nicely posing for a […]

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Gingerbread Man

Biscuit Stars, Tosia australis, come in all sorts of colour variations. This beautiful purple star under Rapid Bay Jetty reminded me of a gingerbread man with its striking orange internal markings. Sea stars are not perhaps the most exciting of undersea critters and are often overlooked by divers who miss out on their intricate beauty. […]

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Ocean’s Eleven Again

When is an animal truly primal? Does having eleven arms, a prime number, count? Prime numbers are actually quite common in plants but seem wrong in the animal world. Our Oceans’ Eleven and and Edithburgh resident, the eleven-armed sea star, Coscinasterias muricata, is our largest starfish and is as primal as they come! Photo: Robert […]

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Sea’n Biscuits

Biscuit Stars (Tosia australis) abound under Edithburgh Jetty. They are so common and so generally stationary they are often overlooked by divers for the intricate beauty in their last (note the term ‘last’ is used to describe the hard structure making up the shape of the starfish). This pair side by side highlight differences in […]

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