Watch This Starfish Protect Her Babies From Danger | Deep Look

Unlike most sea stars, six-rayed sea star moms are VERY involved in their kids' lives, caressing and protecting their babies for months. When they're big enough, the youngsters venture out on their own to ruthlessly hunt down their tiny prey.
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DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED in San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
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The California shoreline is home to the tiny six-rayed sea star. About the size of a bottle cap, these diminutive starfish have an unusually attentive style of raising their young.
“Most sea stars use a broadcast spawning method,” says Berenice Baca-Ceballos, a graduate student at San Francisco State University. Broadcast spawners release huge numbers of eggs and sperm directly into the water. The lucky ones meet and develop into larvae that grow up all on their own. Most never reach adulthood.
But mama six-rayed stars of the genus Leptasterias are different. “The mother sea star will sit on her eggs for about two to three months until her eggs develop, hatch, and grow into little juvenile sea stars,” says Baca-Ceballos. “She’s like a mother chicken. The female sea star sits on her eggs until the little baby sea stars, that look like delicate living snowflakes, are ready to adventure out.“
This style of holding on to their young as they develop is called brooding. While six-rayed sea stars have many fewer offspring than most sea stars, they spend more time taking care of their young.
“By protecting her young, the six-rayed star increases the chances that her babies will survive,” Baca- Ceballos says.
--- How do starfish move?
Starfish move using hydraulic pressure. They have a system of canals, called the water vascular system, which run through their bodies. The canals connect to a large number of tiny flexible tube feet that end in adhesive pads. A starfish contracts muscles to adjust the hydraulic pressure in the tube feet, allowing it to crawl along surfaces.
--- How do starfish eat?
Starfish are mostly carnivores. Many types of starfish eat shellfish like mussels, clams and snails. A starfish will use its numerous tube feet to slowly pry open its prey’s shell. Once it has opened the shell enough, the starfish will extend its stomach out through its mouth to digest its prey alive. Some types of starfish also eat small fish, plankton and detritus.
--- Do starfish have eyes?
Starfish usually have a simple eyespot at the tip of each arm. Also called ocelli, these eyespots can only sense light and dark.
---+ For more information:
The Cohen Lab at San Francisco State University studies six-rayed sea stars of the genus Leptasterias.
sarahcoh0.wixs...
---+ More great Deep Look episodes:
Ever Seen a Starfish Gallop? | Deep Look
• Ever Seen a Starfish G...
Sea Urchins Pull Themselves Inside Out to Be Reborn | Deep Look
• Video
A Sand Dollar’s Breakfast Is Totally Metal | Deep Look
• A Sand Dollar's Breakf...
---+ Shoutout!
🏆Congratulations🏆 to the following fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for correctly answering our GIF challenge! The answer is "brachiolar arms" that are reabsorbed when they sea star's permanent arms emerge.
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@dumbbirdwayne
@nuzwo2723
@callystarizka-tata7892
@magicdolphin3090
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#starfish #seastar #deeplook

[@MA-URAG_na_MORO]

The baby starfish chasing the baby snail is the cutest predation vid ever...!!!

[@Toastmaster_5000]

I was thinking the same thing - made it even funnier that it was so slow paced

[@MA-URAG_na_MORO]

@@Toastmaster_5000 know what would be funniest...? Zefrank narrating that scene, lolz...

[@eklectiktoni]

I thought the same thing. Too stinking cute!😭

[@sorincioara7861]

And kinda awkward because these poor baby barnicles and sea snails are gonna die young. They only got to live hours, days, weeks, or even months; and now they just died.

[@ttuanmu]

@@sorincioara7861Yeah, I agree. They both looked cute, but there was nothing cute about what happened…..😢😢😢

[@bohgirl11]

Its amazing how starfish look innocent and harmless enough, but once you see them slowly, but aggressively pursuing a source of food, all of a sudden they're pretty scary.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Yup!

[@shardinalwind7696]

They still look cute to me

[@bohgirl11]

@@shardinalwind7696 They are definitely adorable!!!! These ones in particular. They just look so fluffy and tiny. :)

[@KlaunFuhrer-du7fr]

Nothing compared how snails hunt and eat other snails... i wont even say alive... it is self understanding.

[@quitlife9279]

It's even more worse seeing them eating a crab, they literally melt the crab into a soft blob all the while the crab is still alive. You'll never see them as innocent and harmless ever again. they're the most terrifying predator on the beach or even the planet, and it doesn't even have a face. Just a bunch of murderous tentacles.

[@LegoCookieDoggie]

Carnivorous little snowflakes that’s how a boomer would describe me as

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Hahahha

[@alveolate]

except... boomers are the ones who've benefitted the most from the carnivorous appetite of capitalism...

[@dumbbirdwayne]

They look like they’d be super fluffy 😅 the texture and size of them is so cute, just teeny little stars!

[@marumiyuhime]

you are confusing boomers with gen x glad i helped during boomer days dat waz a racial slur fo whight folk.

[@SuperXzm]

Carnivorous for pills

[@diana_svy]

3:58 that snail was RUNNING for its life

[@calebdonaldson7044]

In the most snail way possible.

[@youngmasterzhi]

You mean walking for its life?

[@Fishlover2302]

It doesnt wanna get eaten

[@Fishlover2302]

But still eaten

[@richsterstites]

The Usain Bolt of snails

[@da2935]

They look like baby popcorns!! So cute

[@KQEDDeepLook]

We though the same thing! Or goldfish crackers. At any rate, they do look like a yummy snack.

[@aramizcroissant]

Please don't eat them

[@franmanlemon]

you ever see those gerber star puffs lol

[@yuzhongluoyisson9420]

C R U N C H

[@Orochiex3]

Who's gonna stop me ​@@aramizcroissant?

[@zoz998]

I'm in love with the six jingles whenever the arms are counted! Music's use in immersing the viewer in these short videos is so understated and unappreciated!

[@alveolate]

omg yesss the 6-note motif was so well-used! come to think of it... this series ALWAYS has great music... very severely underrated imo

[@JETAlone12]

The music is always on point but Seth Samuel really knocked it out of the park this time. Putting it in 6/4 was inspired.

[@sethgsamuel]

Thank you! Did you notice the switch to 5/8 for the five-armed guys? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYS3l6pnrNqDb9U

[@JETAlone12]

@@sethgsamuel I didn't! That's incredible.

[@tanyeewei]

@@sethgsamueli thought it is cool to have notes match up to the counting of the stars' arms

[@sethgsamuel]

@@tanyeewei thank you!

[@pacoramon9468]

4:11 RUN YOU CUTIE.

[@AphidKirby]

I had no idea ther were K strategy starfish! Soooo cute! They really do look like snowflakes and look at those bright red eyespots they got! They got their mother's eyes....

[@KQEDDeepLook]

ha so true!

[@timlopez7631]

I think this is my favorite video of yours! The music and editing are so spot on. The little 6-note riff someone also pointed out, the way the baby sea star makes up the Deep Look icon in the intro, the clever writing, it's all made so thoughtfully! 🥹

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Wow thanks Tim! Spread the word!

[@Nimbos0]

Shoutout to the Deep Look team especially the sound crew. The dings added to the music when counting the arms was a really nice touch 😊

[@DeeDee_Viera]

I learn something new on Deep Look every time and I'm so proud of it. I never knew there was a 6 limbed starfish that was this adorable and caring! Thanks for sharing 🫶🏾🌻

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Our pleasure!

[@brianrigsby7900]

@@KQEDDeepLookwait…I thought starfish had 5…

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Many have 5, but there is actually some variation by species.

[@Intendeduse1]

@@brianrigsby7900 this is addressed in the video my dude.

[@BlueberryPlanet]

Awww look at those little baby starfish! They're so CUTE

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

Fascinating! Now I wonder about male and female starfish. I thought most were hermaphrodites. Very cool. I liked seeing the entire larval stage develop!

[@chezmoi42]

Oh, these are adorable, like tiny crocheted doilies! Thank you all so much for your meticulous and charming work. I once wrote a starfish poem - seems like the right gift for you. Le Poisson (Etoile) d’Avril An unwary periwinkle wandered along a tidepool’s edge as the dark of evening fell. A thousand stars began to sparkle round the crescent of the moon; before him, all the sky reflected in the mirror of the water. Suddenly, one star moved toward him and as he watched, bemused, it took him gently in its arms. --MC 4/2019

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Fantastic!

[@cumiebaka]

bro made a poem

[@Ella35222]

Shoutout to the composer, he went hard for this episode

[@bighugebug8444]

Leptasterias!!! I help study these thru the Cohen lab at SFSU. I’ve been waiting for this episode

[@KQEDDeepLook]

That's awesome!

[@Blooming_dangerkit]

i can't believe they have 6 armsss

[@Matagu1]

6 arms is nothing. Look at other seastar

[@sleepyfish2157]

Sunflower sea star 😁😁

[@noobseemswrong]

Crown of Thorns Sea Star: Errrm, uuuh, about that…

[@rdnry]

Amazing job on the music on this one!!! so good

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you enjoy it! That's the music of Seth G. Samuel. He composes the score for all of our episodes. :-)

[@pranavswaroop4291]

Just beautifully written, shot, narrated and scored! Perfect!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Wow thanks!

[@melonmatv9112]

the music and editing in this episode was amazing!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Kia Simon does our fine cut editing and motion graphics - she's a wiz!

[@melonmatv9112]

@@KQEDDeepLook my compliments to the chef!

[@blessedbeauty2293]

- 4:14 Awe how *CUTEEEE !!*

[@joashthedoash6699]

I always thought the prepopped popcorn always tasted funny 🤣

[@KQEDDeepLook]

👺

[@KBird-flylow]

What a great title

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks!

[@cosmichale]

I'm just obsessed with deep look!

[@dylanchua5197]

I never knew there was a species of sea star that actually takes care of its young, guess you learn something new everyday.

[@mohammedyaser1357]

Thanks for the shoutout guys!! My bad for that mistake though, these stars have 6 arms, not 5. I really hope your channel continues to grow!❤❤⭐⭐⭐

[@KQEDDeepLook]

No worries!

[@LadyBrightcynder]

Oh my goodness the little baby starfish! They're so sweet!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Right?!

[@Acturcia]

The sound design is so good in this! The sfx for the 6 arms matches the music!

[@kainlei1124]

Loving the intro music and generally how whimsical the music sounds throughout the video, really fitting and such a good job!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you very much!

[@FreakStarWars]

This video is (like all of your other videos) a true work of art! Thanks a lot!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you! 🎨

[@connieembury1]

The way she says "Digested alive"!

[@patriciapage2109]

I really enjoy casting this onto my Smart TV. Cute little babies ❣️

[@LM-lv6fv]

Best footage & best narration ever👍🏼🥰 Thank you for this amazing vid

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Wow, thank you!

[@LM-lv6fv]

@@KQEDDeepLook Thank you!! You are all Amazing, did I mention the music?👍🏼🎶 Also perfect🥰

[@user-zy4wv7yx1z]

This was an especially stellar episode! Loved the music and the adorably deadly chase scene. Awesome work to the entire team

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you! We're so happy you enjoyed our video! Seth Samuel creates our original scores. Josh Cassidy produced and filmed this episode, including the chase scene you loved. Josh worked closely with researcher Berenice Baca-Ceballos, at San Francisco State University. I bet you'd also love this video that Josh produced about hermit crabs and how they reuse snails' shells: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHTWk4eZotmmpaMsi=DBv6iwUgeeGlnwKq Enjoy!

[@theFatTubist]

Bravo to the composer. Great accompaniment!

[@9767Music]

I love how they walk with tiny little poles on their arms instead of actually using the arms

[@shroomyesc]

As do most of their cousins like urchins or sand dollars but then brittle stars said screw that and actually "leap" and swim with their four arms while leading with one as if it were a head. They can even grab prey from above them in the water with those arms, much more active predators.

[@kyleoliver637]

It’s so wild how these are researched and observed. I always wished I could do stuff like this.

[@fredrickadelbert903]

The babies are so cute

[@spranav8971]

Love the music in this 😍.. I could listen to it on end..

[@mayurlagad492]

That one 'Aww' stole the show ❤

[@InvisiblePerson704]

4:06 okay but the way the baby snail "walks" is so cute

[@Rat2rrj]

The writing and editing is always on point!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

✍

[@FurkanCeylanSanat]

What particularly catches my attention is your music. It's very harmonious with the movements in the video, congratulations, you've put a lot of effort into it and you're doing artistic work, I'm your big fan👏🏻

[@kyokoyumi]

2:46 Hah lil popcorns. Cute.

[@Art_Murder]

This is the cutest video yet

[@KQEDDeepLook]

👶

[@wildrattygirl7829]

Awww they look like baby puff cereal

[@Skeptical_Numbat]

It's fascinating to learn that these guys *(Echinoderms)* are actually distantly related to us... Just like us, they start off life being _Bilaterally Symmetrical_ (where the left & right sides are mirror images of each other) before starting to grow their head section into a new, _Radially Symmetrical_ (where all body parts radiate out from a central point) body, before reabsorbing their original hind sections. Because they have a rudimentary *Notochord* during the _Bilaterally Symmetrical_ stage of their lives, they are classed as members of the *Phylum Chordata* (just like we are). Most *Echinoderms* do this early in their lives, while they're still free-swimming plankton. That this Six-Armed Starfish broods them underneath their body is downright unique - even for such a weird organism.

[@rustyshackleford9888]

You're confusing echinoderms for tunicates with some of those facts it seems. Tunicates (e.g., sea squirts, salps, etc.) are invertebrate chordates belonging to the phylum Chordata just like us vertebrates, and the notochord is one of the synapomorphies (shared traits based on ancestry) that define this group. Echinoderms do not have notochords at any stage during their development, nor did they evolve from any animals that had notochords. They belong to their own phylum, Echinodermata. However, echinoderms and chordates DO both belong to the same superphylum, Deuterostomia, and each is more closely related to each other than either is to any other non-deuterostome animal. Deuterostomes are united by genetic evidence and by similarities during early stages of embryological development. For example, all bilaterians develop a through-gut (two openings connected by a tube-food goes in one hole, waste goes out another). In deuterostomes, the hole that develops first in the embryo is destined to become the anus. In all other bilaterians (i.e., the protostomes), the first hole to develop will eventually become the mouth.

[@xmattar]

They really did hit us with the hardest intro ever

[@kylerae9196]

I loved the graphic outline of the bottle cap tilting to match the starfish's orientation. Cute little add and great attention to detail!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you liked it!

[@mypal1990]

Patrick Star's long lost relative never looked so mean!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Sea star's gotta eat.

[@EveloGrave]

Deep Look music is always great. Is it custom made for each episode?

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Yep!

[@LazyTallGuy]

Kinda reminds me of a pin cushion 😅and cute too

[@Glory2Snowstar]

RAAAAH I LOVE WEIRD BABY ECHINODERMS BROTHERRRRRRRRRR

[@stanisyev8692]

Love your videos about sea-creatures like starfish or shrimps or alike

[@pcmercer9872]

I had watched most of your videos over the past years, but somehow i'm overly excited to watch the deep looks of Gypsy Moth Caterpillar and how the itchy part usually occurs on the human skins. ❤❤

[@FuzzyBall1582]

It's so cute❤!!!!!!!!!

[@GrasshoppersAreOut]

I love watching these videos, it’s so fascinating!

[@etheron1235]

3:58 and 4:08 is definitely a Mother and Daughter moment

[@marqui-3795]

Do you have a composer making the music for each individual video? It matches so perfectly! :)

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Yep! Seth G. Samuel is our composer. :-)

[@jacksinpasin]

The forbidden snack

[@dumbbirdwayne]

LOOK MUM I GOT A SHOUTOUT IN THE DESCRIPTION 😂 cheers, I’m glad my weird obsession with echinoderms came in handy! Still can’t get over how damn cute baby starfish are, they’re just little bizarre looking popcorns!

[@callystarizka-tata7892]

They're so cute. I never seen these starfishes before

[@BlackReaper0]

Adorable!

[@zacharywong483]

Fantastic visuals and footage, as always!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@zack88005]

this and the aedes aegypti egg spawning behaviour sound design are top notch

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks! 🔊

[@katrinakollmann5265]

I didnt know this species existed ♡ so cute

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Indeed!

[@velhesvalden1309]

Great another video. Thank you and gg for your work.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you too!

[@callystarizka-tata7892]

Hey guys, it's me, Callysta aka Tata/LMNOP/O. I am a huge fan of Deep Look. Sorry if im inactive bcs i was busy. In this video, you see there are some sea creatures like sea slugs, sea urchins, and sand dollars. You can guys watch these videos if you miss it. I hope you enjoyed this video. See you next time

[@cumiebaka]

bro is narrating the video

[@babybenjiitopic435]

I will always love this channel

[@FMFvideos]

Baby starfish doo doo doo

[@neuronoc.7343]

"I'M SORRY PATRICK."

[@creounity]

Marvelous little creatures!

[@lemonetdailo8391]

This is so freakin cute!!! ❤❤❤

[@fredyrodriguez8881]

4:18 Lol, that was the same thing I was thinking! 😂

[@ChuanChihChou]

4:18 "It's a baby-eat-baby world out here" - Deep Look

[@poporo515]

Mom's a star ✨⭐

[@AniFam]

Awesome~👍 Thank you for sharing this video!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks for visiting.

[@vjthemad4852]

Beautiful voice

[@footfault1941]

Skillful staff + patience, constant vigilance only can produce a film like this! Just stunning, a whole cycle of ontogeny, including predatory behavior of baby! Dr Grant: how did you do this? Dr Hammond: I'll show you. I watch Deep Look.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

😍

[@LukVik]

So cute 🥰!!!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Agree!

[@aranzaaranda]

Cohen was my professor and I'm in her lab!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Lucky you! We love it when we have a chance to film in Sarah Cohen's lab at SF State.

[@SarahCohen-b8y]

@@KQEDDeepLook Aw, we love having you join us!!!

[@DreamDaddie]

Broadcast spawners make me avoid the beach

[@paulafigueiredo1745]

Fascinating Thanks D L ❤

[@Cat-ct9hn]

I loved this video so much, thank you 🥹

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You are so welcome!

[@holdenmcgroin8699]

Animal and Insect worlds are freakin horror movies on steroids!

[@NewMessage]

And here we are with 4 measly limbs, like some kinda chumps!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

We are inadequate

[@cumiebaka]

10 limbs if you count each finger

[@haamta]

so adorable omg🥹the baby stars remind me of konpeito candy which was a childhood snack of mine haha

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Neat!

[@Rantsack]

So that’s where they got the goldfish chip shapes from. Starfish eggs.

[@YiJoro]

Finally! Another one!

[@kimbratton9620]

Incredible creatures!

[@Help-gq9ik]

they are MICROSCOPIC🥳

[@sunshine70]

So Patrick really exists 😂 I didn't know that

[@cjbr0wn]

Those baby starfish look like cheese goldfish lol

[@abhirajbhokare1989]

Doesn't too much water enter the mouth while removing the stomach for digestion?

[@asterixky]

Do sea stars have predators? I have seen entire sea floors covered with sea stars. I once saw one I brought up to dry over night being eaten by a seagull at the morning. A very thick 16" sea star that the seagull grabbed by the center, and as the sea star went down the hatch, its legs folded outward naturally for the seagull to be able to finish it.

[@cumiebaka]

good question, I always thought they were easy prey due to how slow and useless they are.

[@shroomyesc]

Sea stars are plentiful in the oceans but they do have lots of predators, but they also have many ways to defend themselves. Most can "harden" at will so that if they crawl into a crevice they're "stuck" in there and can't be dragged out or have defensive spikes and such. The Crown of thorns starfish is notorisously hardy, has huge toxic/venomous spines, and are huge themselves and mostly devoid of predators, however if you search on youtube for "How a Crown-of-Thorns starfish reacts to the smell of a Giant Triton" you'll see that even they have hardwired instincts to get out of dodge when they smell giant sea snails.

[@nurilfaizah64]

more cute creatures unlock, join with sea slug and dumbo octopus ♡0♡

[@RitoReyes2033]

I love starfish

[@KQEDDeepLook]

🌟

[@adriankoh4859]

Reminds me how I bite my sister, she can't hide but she can run🏃

[@brianrigsby7900]

0:21 her embryos? So they develop outside the body? That’s unusual…