Sea Star

Bat stars

Kathy deWet-Oleson

Sea stars use hundreds of suction-cupped feet to move and capture food, which they eat with stomachs in the center of their bodies. Bat stars have extra webbing between their arms. They graze over algae and rocks in the intertidal zone, eating tiny algae, plants, and animals. The most common sea stars found in the intertidal zone are the ochre stars. Up to 18 inches across, they can be found in ochre (orange), yellow, red, brown, or purple. They feed upon mussels from the intertidal zone, freeing up habitat for other species that thrive there.