You may recognizeChoriaster granulatusfrom such subreddits as r / mildlypenis , gas constant / intentionallypenis , and r / oddlyarousing . The starfish is far-famed for its penis - like “ arm ” – but what you ’re really looking at is a whole set of head .
C. granulatus , commonly lie with as the granulate sea star , is plant across the Indo - Pacific . It enjoy warm waters and chilling on everything from rocky , rubbly surfaces to coastal coral Witwatersrand . grain sea stars sometimes ride alone , but they can also be receive in gang .
They are carnivorous animals with mouths concealed beneath their doughy bodies , which have earned them the nickname " doughboy starfish " in honor of the Pillsbury Doughboy . It typically has the coming into court of a classic five - armed ocean star , but this can be distort by parasitic limpets that are fond to clinging to their underside .
Admittedly, these bits don’t help its case.Image credit: Tonydiver viaiNaturalist,CC BY-NC 4.0
Its five “ arms ” are a great demonstration of the five - fold symmetry we see in starfish , which have no clear head or tail . If you were ever wondering where to stick a lid on one , you might gamble on the center , but in true statement , these animals are basically all head .
The astounding discovery was made in a2023 studythat used a combination of imagery and transmitted technique to create a 3D map collection of starfish gene formula . This include micro - CT scanning , which illustrated the skeleton in the cupboard , muscles , and digestive , nervous , and water system vascular scheme of a starfish , combined with RNA tomography and in situ hybridizing – staining genetic material with fluorescent labels – to show which genes were being evince and where .
Their campaign revealed that the “ head ” of a starfish is , in fact , composed of headlike region dole out in the center of its “ body ” and the center of each of its five limbs . Thus , what we opine of as a starfish ’s body is really more like a head .
“ It ’s as if the sea mavin is completely lose a trunk , and is best describe as just a head cower along the seafloor , ” say Laurent Formery , lead author of the unexampled starfish study , in astatement . “ It ’s not at all what scientist have assume about these beast . ”
So before you go branding the granulated sea star a cluster of penises or the Pillsbury Doughboy , have a bit of regard and see it for the instance of one of nature ’s strangest top dog that it rightfully is .
