Young Starfish Eat Their Siblings Eating Their Siblings, According To New StudyFor the sake of your own
"But all the guinea pigs started eating each other even before we released the crabs.We had to abandon this experiment," explains John Allen, assistant professorSo Allen and his team set out to observe this previously unknown phenomenon among young starfish.
According to National Geographic, starfishAsterias forbesi, which is commonly found on the east coast of the United States, grows to be 11.9 to 24 cm in length in adulthood. Juveniles are mostly pinhead-sized replicas of their parents, Allen says. In the process of growth, they undergo metamorphosis - they turn from an immature form into an adult, just as caterpillars turn into butterflies.
Even though the young Asterias forbesi are about the same size, the larger ones always ended up eating the smaller ones, according to a new study.
Scientists have found that young starfish exhibit cannibalism as early as four days after metamorphosis.
Cannibalism between siblings can give individual stars an adaptive advantage, Allen said. Moreover, adult female starfish lay 5 to 10 million eggs per year.
The results are published in the journal Ecology.
Although this behavior was unknown for thisspecies, cannibalism is not uncommon in the animal kingdom: more than 1,300 species (including humans) are reported to exhibit it. The researchers believe that cannibalism is likely to be even more prevalent in small animals, including young ones.
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William & Mary is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States.