Marine Life with Brenda

Starfish  In spite of their famous (and very misleading!) name, starfish are not fish. These belong to a group of animals called invertebrates, which also includes urchins and sponges, because they don't have a backbone. There are about 1,600 different starfish species living in oceans around the world, where they inhabit all types of habitat including tidal pools, rocky beaches, sea grass, kelp beds and coral reefs. Several forms of starfish are found also 9,000 metres deep on sandy seabeds.  Perhaps one of the most useful things a starfish can do is to rebuild its own arms. They can use this trait in several different ways. If a starfish comes into contact with a predator, arms may be lost, or it may be amputated to hide or flee. They also have no blood or brain. Seawater is circulated around their bodies as a substitute for blood, with the water providing the starfish with essential nutrients that allow their organs to function properly. The use water ...

Stone bass  Argyrosomus regius is a member of the Sciaenidae family. It is similar in shape to a European seabass, coloured pearly-silver with a yellow-colored head. Length can range from 40–50 cm to 2 m long, weighing up to 55 kg. Argyrosomus regius has a fairly large head with very tiny eyes, the large mouth is in the terminal position and the body is elongated. Argyrosomus regius is found from Norway to West Africa in the eastern Atlantic including the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It colonised the Red Sea by migrating through the Suez Canal. The adults prey on grey mullet and clupeids like sardines that are aggressively pursued in open water. The adults gather for spawning in the inshore waters during spring and summer. The juveniles and subadults prefer estuaries and coastal lagoons, and the availability of these habitats can decide the quality of recruitment into the adult population. Such fish are migratory, at all ages, migrating along the shore or in r...