See sea star see

   We've known that most sea star species have at least a simple eye on the ends of each arm which could determine light from dark. However, behaviors were being observed to suggest that some more complex species had more complex means of visual reception. In this report, Science News describes how researchers from the University of Copenhagen tested whether these types could make out at least crude images. Unfortuantely, the methodology was rather severe and might not make for the best talking point, especially with smaller children.

From the abstract of the original paper, the researchers report "Here, we show that the eyes of the coral-reef-associated starfish Linckia laevigata are slow and colour blind. The eyes are capable of true image formation although with low spatial resolution. Further, our behavioural experiments reveal that only specimens with intact eyes can navigate back to their reef habitat when displaced, demonstrating that this is a visually guided behaviour. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a function of starfish compound eyes."

Posted by David