How Starfish Got Their Shape

Back when the oceans were fairly young and new, there were small, round creatures living in the shallows and seabeds, not dissimilar to today's sand dollars.

They were the ancestors of one of today's most iconic and shapely creatures; starfish! But, how did starfish come from such round creatures?

The story goes that, long, long ago (back when the oceans were young, remember?) a large group of crabs came across a mass of the round starfish ancestors.

Hungry, and expecting an easy meal, the crabs began to try to pick up the round creatures with their claws. However, the "easy meals" dug into the sand, grabbing onto the granules beneath them with their podia - little gripping tubes on the undersides of the creatures. The crabs couldn't move them from the seabed effectively; there was simply too much drag.

Until, that is, two began trying to wrestle one of the proto-starfish from one another's grip. In doing so, they both managed to unintentionally pry the flat animal from the seabed.

And so began the chaos.

Soon, the crabs were - at first - aiding each other in lifting the creatures from the sand. It didn't take long before they began swarming the smaller group of proto-starfish with earnest, eager to steal and secret away their anticipated meals. Outnumbering the mass of proto-starfish about five-to-one, they scuttled away eagerly with their prizes in their claws...

As the crabs returned to their homes, there started the next drama; there weren't enough of the round creatures to go around. Each crab gripped part of a proto-starfish with at least one claw, initiating a mass tug-o-war over the proposed food.

None would relinquish their hold.

At first, the proto-starfish broke into halves. From there, the crabs would find another grip and tug, breaking down the creatures into smaller, divided pieces. Crabs would take a piece, eat it or stash it in their burrows, and race back for the next helping.

Eventually, though, the pieces left wouldn't break down any further.

So began yet another bout of tug-o-war. Except, now that the pieces wouldn't break any further, they began to do something else. Something unexpected.

They stretched.

For every crab tugging on it, the proto-starfish elongated; some had four or five crabs pulling, and so stretched to four or five arms. Some had so many crabs trying to eat them up, their bodies seemed to turn into a mass of arms.

And once these, the first, true starfish, had arms - and many of them - the crabs found themselves being swatted away with ease, and they fled into their burrows.

The newly formed starfish began their long crawl back into the shallows; by the time they returned to their home, it was night. Pitch black beneath the waves.

Each one rejoiced at so nearly surviving their dreadful fate.

And many celebrated at becoming their new shapes; reminiscent of the glittering stars in the galactic oceans overhead.