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Comment by bloopernova | Hacker News Reader

Starfish are bizarre. They start as a bilaterally symmetrical larva, then grow a stalk that attaches to the sea bed. They grow, then rearrange themselves into a pentaradially symmetrical form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish

Plus they can regenerate from a severed limb! Creepy, but very interesting too.

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An even more bizarre animal is Dendrogaster, a starfish parasite. Believe it or not, but it's a crustacean.

It grows inside a starfish's body cavity until filling it completely, which explains the strange shape of the parasite.

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/...

Oh, geez, that reminds me of the Mimics from All You Need Is Kill (the basis of Edge of Tomorrow. In the novel, the Mimics are not the alien invaders themselves, but rather nanomachine colonies sent by the actual aliens that infest and control the bodies of starfish, adapting them to combat use.

If you are interested in parasitic crustaceans,you could have a fun time reading about sacculina and the mysterious Y larva

Jellyfish are really weird too. They produce like spores that then go down to the surface and create factories that create little baby jellyfish.

What do you mean by "down to the surface"?

I mean the sea floor haha

Why do you have to be so affable about it ;)?

It is really creepy because they often regenerate funny. See reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/deformedstarfish

if they can regenerate from a severed limb does this mean they can be cloned into 5?

My understanding is that they can regrow from all the severed parts if done correctly, so 6 at a time. Arms and central core.

How would a separated arm part nourish itself?

In the Wikipedia article, it states they live off stored nutrients until they can grow a mouth and stomach. So very, very weird!

It depends on the species at least https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_regeneration#Degree...

> Plus they can regenerate from a severed limb!

I think you mean part of head.

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