Today, we dissected a starfish! Believe it or not, I have always wanted to see what goes on inside them and I was not disappointed in the end. Because I am terrible at using the labeling app, I will just comment on where everything is.
The dot in the middle I'm pointing at is called the Madreporite, where the waste comes out of.
Right in the middle, we have its inverted stomach. We learned that the stomach comes out of the mouth (located under the stomach at the moment) and squirts its digestive juices out on the pray. Fortunately, we got to see this up close. Also, straight through the middle of the arms are something called tube feet.
We got lucky here because it was a clean cut through the middle so we could identify things easier. The ball-like nude things stuck at the top are called the ampulla. The green substance at the bottom is called pyloric caeca. In the far, far corners, closer to its middle area, we have the gonads which are used for reproduction purposes.
Dissecting this starfish was quite interesting because they are much more complex than they seem. Its incredible what important parts they hold in their arms!
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