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