Hello, I'm an expert in marine biology. When it comes to starfish, also known as sea stars, it's important to understand that they don't have a mouth or teeth in the way that most animals do. Instead, they have a unique feeding mechanism.
Starfish have a central disc with five or more arms, depending on the species. On the underside of each arm, there is a groove known as the
stomach, which can actually push out through the
mouth, which is located on the underside of the central disc. When a starfish catches its prey, it wraps its arms around the prey and uses tiny, non-retractable, and blunt-tipped
pedal digestive appendages called
tube feet to grip and manipulate the prey. The stomach may then extrude a digestive enzyme to start the process of digestion externally.
While the starfish doesn't "bite" in the traditional sense, it can exert a strong grip with its tube feet, which might feel like a bite to the touch. However, this grip is not typically used to harm humans or cause pain but is part of its feeding process.
So, to answer your question:
Starfish do not bite in the way that animals with teeth do, but they can exert a strong grip with their tube feet during feeding.
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