A Black and White Seastar, <i>Smilasterias multipara</i>, on reef.
<p>This species reproduces sexually, but the females brood embryos and juveniles in the stomach, up to 300 in a single female. Tube feet transfer the eggs or embryos from the gonopores on the sides of the arm into the stomach. It is not known where the eggs are fertilised. The young seastars are released with about 1 mm long arms, into rocky shallows in Spring. An Arctic seastar is the only other species with this capacity for gastric brooding.
</p><p>Photographer: Mark Norman
</p>
Source: Museums Victoria
Mark Norman
CC BY 4.0
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