Sea star - Quiz
  • 1. What is another name for sea stars?
A) Seashell
B) Seahorse
C) Starfish
D) Seal
  • 2. How many arms do most sea stars have?
A) 5
B) 8
C) 10
D) 6
  • 3. What do sea stars use to move?
A) Tube feet
B) Fins
C) Tentacles
D) Claws
  • 4. What is the main threat to sea stars in recent years?
A) Overfishing
B) Sea star wasting disease
C) Pollution
D) Climate change
  • 5. Which organ helps sea stars to perform tube feet extension and retraction?
A) Digestive system
B) Circulatory system
C) Nervous system
D) Water vascular system
  • 6. Which ocean are sea stars commonly found in?
A) Atlantic
B) Pacific
C) Indian
D) Arctic
  • 7. Which body shape do sea stars possess?
A) Asymmetry
B) Bilateral symmetry
C) Radial symmetry
D) Spiral symmetry
  • 8. What do sea stars primarily prey on?
A) Algae
B) Plants
C) Mollusks
D) Fish
  • 9. What is the scientific class name for starfish?
A) Ophiuroidea
B) Echinoidea
C) Holothuroidea
D) Asteroidea
  • 10. In which type of marine environment are starfish NOT found?
A) Intertidal zones
B) Tropical oceans
C) Freshwater lakes
D) Abyssal depths
  • 11. Which color are many species of starfish commonly found in?
A) Green
B) Red or orange
C) Yellow
D) Black
  • 12. What is the ecological role of the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus)?
A) Keystone species
B) Predator on fish
C) Invasive species
D) Coral polyp
  • 13. What is a common defense mechanism of starfish?
A) Releasing ink
B) Shedding arms
C) Camouflage
D) Electric shock
  • 14. How far back does the fossil record for starfish date?
A) Cretaceous period around 100 million years ago
B) Ordovician period around 450 million years ago
C) Cambrian period around 500 million years ago
D) Jurassic period around 200 million years ago
  • 15. What part of the starfish is likely to be preserved in fossils?
A) Soft tissues
B) Entire body
C) Tube feet
D) Ossicles and spines
  • 16. What is a unique feature of the Antarctic Labidiaster annulatus?
A) It can have more than fifty arms.
B) It has no central disc.
C) It lacks tube feet.
D) It is entirely transparent.
  • 17. What type of feeding behavior involves starfish eversion?
A) Detritus feeding
B) Herbivorous feeding
C) Specialized feeding
D) Filter feeding
  • 18. How do starfish reproduce?
A) Only asexually
B) By binary fission
C) Both sexually and asexually
D) Only sexually
  • 19. What is the primary diet of most starfish?
A) Plankton
B) Seaweed
C) Benthic invertebrates
D) Fish eggs
  • 20. What is the outermost layer covering the body wall of a starfish?
A) Papulae
B) A thin cuticle
C) Collagen fibres
D) A thick dermis
  • 21. Which layer in the starfish body wall consists of a single layer of cells?
A) Dermis
B) Epidermis
C) Peritoneum
D) Myoepithelial layer
  • 22. Where are ossicles located in a starfish?
A) On the outer surface only
B) In the coelomic cavity
C) Under the epidermal layer, even those emerging externally
D) Within papulae
  • 23. What is the composition of ossicles in starfish?
A) Thin cuticle
B) Collagen fibres
C) Calcium carbonate components known as calcite microcrystals arranged in a lattice
D) Single layer of cells
  • 24. What is the role of papulae in starfish?
A) Protect madreporite
B) Displace organisms from surface
C) Support collagen fibres
D) Serve a respiratory function
  • 25. What is the primary material composing the endoskeleton in starfish?
A) Silica
B) Calcium carbonate
C) Chitin
D) Collagen fibres
  • 26. Which protozoan is known to infect and damage the gonads of starfish?
A) Plasmodium falciparum
B) Giardia lamblia
C) Trypanosoma brucei
D) Orchitophrya stellarum
  • 27. Which species in the Indo-Pacific faces similar threats as Oreaster reticulatus due to collection?
A) Protoreaster nodosus
B) Marthasterias glacialis
C) Asterina pectinifera
D) Pisaster ochraceus
  • 28. Which substance can stimulate starfish oocytes to complete division?
A) 2-deoxyglucose
B) 1-methyladenine
C) colchicine
D) cycloheximide
  • 29. At what temperature do Pisaster ochraceus starfish die?
A) 30 °C (86 °F)
B) 25 °C (77 °F)
C) 35 °C (95 °F)
D) 23 °C (73 °F)
  • 30. How often does the starfish's heart beat?
A) Thirty times a minute
B) Continuously without pause
C) About six times a minute
D) Once every hour
  • 31. What is the function of the cardial stomach in primitive starfish?
A) Filters waste products
B) Starts digestion by swallowing prey whole
C) Stores undigested food
D) Absorbs nutrients directly from water
  • 32. What is the name given to the earliest fossil echinoderms found in the Cambrian?
A) Crinoidea
B) Echinoidea
C) Somasteroidea
D) Asterozoa
  • 33. Which order includes starfish with two rows of tube feet and conspicuous marginal plates?
A) Spinulosida
B) Brisingida
C) Forcipulatida
D) Valvatida
  • 34. What is the term used for fossilized accumulations of complete starfish skeletal structures?
A) Lagerstätten
B) Strata
C) Sediment layers
D) Fossil beds
  • 35. Through which structure does water enter the water vascular system of a starfish?
A) Ampulla
B) Radial canal
C) Stone canal
D) Madreporite
  • 36. What type of tissue allows starfish to shed arms rapidly?
A) Gut tissue.
B) Catch connective tissue.
C) Ectodermic layer.
D) Water vascular system.
  • 37. Where do phagocytic coelomocytes eventually migrate to expel waste?
A) To the tips of the papulae
B) Via the anus
C) Through the mouth
D) Into the stomach
  • 38. What is another waste product found in starfish besides ammonia?
A) Urates
B) Lactic acid
C) Sulfates
D) Carbon dioxide
  • 39. What is the function of cilia in the water vascular system?
A) Cilia provide structural support to the canals.
B) They initiate fluid movement, which is bidirectional.
C) They secrete adhesive chemicals for tube feet attachment.
D) Cilia are responsible for producing oxygen in the starfish.
  • 40. Which extinct group of starfish is known from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods?
A) Astropecten polyacanthus
B) Trichasteropsida
C) Calliasterellidae
D) Palasteriscus
  • 41. What surrounds the mouth of a starfish?
A) An exoskeleton
B) Spines
C) Mucus glands
D) A tough peristomial membrane
  • 42. What type of environment do starfish rarely inhabit?
A) Estuarine environments
B) Open oceans
C) Deep oceanic trenches
D) Coral reefs
  • 43. Which order consists mostly of deep-sea starfish with an underdeveloped skeleton?
A) Brisingida
B) Paxillosida
C) Forcipulatida
D) Velatida
  • 44. At what weight does Leptasterias hexactis reach sexual maturity?
A) 100 g (3.5 oz)
B) 70–90 g (2.5–3.2 oz)
C) 50 g (1.8 oz)
D) 20 g (0.7 oz)
  • 45. What is the name of the larval stage characterized by two arm-like outgrowths?
A) Juvenile starfish
B) Comet form
C) Bipinnaria
D) Brachiolaria
  • 46. Which group do starfish belong to along with brittle and basket stars?
A) Asterozoa
B) Crinoidea
C) Holothuroidea
D) Echinoidea
  • 47. How long can it take for a starfish to regrow an entire new limb?
A) A few days.
B) Instantly after the loss of an arm.
C) One week.
D) Several months.
  • 48. From which language are the roots of the word 'Asteroidea' derived?
A) Latin
B) Greek
C) English
D) French
  • 49. Which starfish species is widely collected in the Caribbean?
A) Oreaster reticulatus
B) Marthasterias glacialis
C) Linckia laevigata
D) Asterina pectinifera
  • 50. Which group may be considered a sister group to the Neoasteroidea according to phylogenetic data?
A) Brisingida
B) Velatida
C) Paxillosida
D) Concentricycloidea
  • 51. What type of cells engulf waste material in starfish?
A) Phagocytic coelomocytes
B) Nerve cells
C) Epithelial cells
D) Muscle cells
  • 52. Which order of starfish has species with numerous groups of short spines on the aboral surface?
A) Forcipulatida
B) Spinulosida
C) Valvatida
D) Paxillosida
  • 53. Which order of starfish has particularly flexible arms with distinctive lines of musculature?
A) Forcipulatida
B) Brisingida
C) Notomyotida
D) Paxillosida
  • 54. Which starfish species is considered a keystone species due to its impact on marine biodiversity?
A) Oreaster reticulatus
B) Asterias amurensis
C) Pisaster ochraceus
D) Crown-of-thorns starfish
  • 55. Which starfish species is known to brood its young by dispersing excess eggs?
A) Pteraster militaris
B) Parvulastra parvivipara
C) Asterina gibbosa
D) Nepanthia belcheri
  • 56. Which order of starfish is known to have distinctive pedicellariae with forceps-like tips?
A) Notomyotida
B) Brisingida
C) Velatida
D) Forcipulatida
  • 57. Which starfish species is known for having powerful toxins such as tetrodotoxin?
A) Asterias rubens
B) Astropecten polyacanthus
C) Patiria miniata
D) Pisaster ochraceus
  • 58. Where is the mouth located on a starfish?
A) Near the base of the tube feet
B) In one of the arms
C) At the center of the oral surface
D) On the aboral surface
  • 59. How many simple ocelli are in each eyespot?
A) 10–50
B) 300–500
C) 1000–1500
D) 80–200
  • 60. Which extinct genus of starfish is known from the Triassic period?
A) Trichasteropsis
B) Palasteriscus
C) Astropecten polyacanthus
D) Calliasterella
  • 61. Name one order of living starfish.
A) Crinoidea
B) Holothuroidea
C) Echinoidea
D) Brisingida
  • 62. In which order do starfish lack both anus and tube feet suckers?
A) Paxillosida
B) Spinulosida
C) Brisingida
D) Valvatida
  • 63. Which species of starfish changes from male to female as it grows older?
A) Asterina gibbosa
B) Parvulastra parvivipara
C) Nepanthia belcheri
D) Pteraster militaris
Created with That Quiz — a math test site for students of all grade levels.