Deep Look

This little starfish has a secret.

She's hiding something precious beneath her Her babies.

These chubby globes are her embryos, and these are her larvae that have already hatched.

Right now, they look nothing like her, but over the next couple of months, theyll take after her in more ways than one.

Shes called a six-rayed sea star.

That's one arm more than most sea stars.

And shes way smaller, about the size of a bottle cap.

She lives in Northern Californias intertidal zone where the land and sea collide.

The crashing waves and hungry predators make it a rough neighborhood to raise kids in.

So she protects them under that baby bump.

Scientists call this brooding, which is an unusual behavior for this type of sea creature.

Most sea stars and their cousins, like sand dollars and sea urchins take a sort of free-range approach to raising their kids.

Theyre broadcast spawners. Adults release enormous numbers of eggs and sperm right into the water.

They meet and develop into young.

They grow up all on their own.

Only the luckiest make it to adulthood.

Six-rayed sea star moms take the opposite approach.

They have fewer babies and are extremely involved in their kids lives.

She carefully cleans and caresses her growing brood with her delicate feet.

Tending to these cuties means their mom doesnt eat for three whole months.

Because she cares so much and because the babies are literally right in front of her mouth.

The growing kids hold onto her and their siblings with these three stubby, temporary limbs, called brachiolar arms.

As the larvae develop they dont eat either.

They dont even have a mouth!

Instead, they survive off of stored energy already inside them.

After about a month, six brand new arms start to pop out.

And, they grow their very first tube feet.

Awww.

They reabsorb those brachiolar arms.

And finally begin to resemble mini-versions of their mom.

When theyre big enough, the precious snowflakes venture out on their own.

You cant stay with mom forever.

With their long, gangly tube feet, the baby sea stars are like puppies that havent grown into their oversized paws yet.

Its time to track down their first meal.

Adult sea stars eat shellfish like barnacles and snails.

Baby sea stars go after the baby versions.

Its a baby-eat-baby world out here!

The tiny sea star wraps its arms around its prey and extends its stomach into the snails shell, digesting it alive.

Some may say theyre coddled, but all that extra attention during those crucial early months gives these little six-rayed sea stars a better chance of making it big.