How does a starfish eat by pushing out its stomach?
Inside-Out Lunch
How does a starfish eat by pushing out its stomach?
Picture a starfish clinging to a rock at the bottom of the ocean. It looks simple — just five arms and a bumpy body. But this creature has one of the strangest eating tricks in the animal kingdom. When it finds food it can't swallow, it does something wild: it turns its stomach inside-out and pushes it out through its mouth.
Most animals eat the normal way: food goes in the mouth, down to the stomach. But a starfish often eats things bigger than its mouth — like a whole clam or mussel sealed tight in its shell. The starfish can't bite. It can't chew. So it brings its stomach TO the food instead of bringing the food to its stomach.
