Sunday, October 5, 2008
Reflection
I had a good time dissecting this specimen. Although it was much harder compared to the Romalea guttata I dissected last year, I was still able to finish it without destroying it. Identifying its parts was not easy either, but I managed. The experience was painstaking, but I'm ready to go through with another one.
References
http://herba.msu.ru/belomor/images/ast_rub.png
http://www.ehow.com/how_2100039_dissect-starfish.html
"How To Dissect A Starfish"
http://marinebiology-shine.blogspot.com/2007/10/virtual-dissection-starfish.html
"Virtual Dissection - Starfish"
http://www.castlefordschools.com/kent/07-08%20lessons/Lessons/Advanced%20Biology%20Lessons/chapter%2031/Advanced%20Biology%20Chapter%2031%20Echinoderms%20and%20Invertebrate%20Chordates_files/image017.jpg
http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-starfish.jpg
http://www.cumberland.k12.il.us/schools/chs/starwalt%20projects/Starfish/starfish_dissection.htm
"Starfish Dissection"
http://www.marlin.ac.uk/imgs/Species/Echinodermata/o_astrub.jpg
http://www.ehow.com/how_2100039_dissect-starfish.html
"How To Dissect A Starfish"
http://marinebiology-shine.blogspot.com/2007/10/virtual-dissection-starfish.html
"Virtual Dissection - Starfish"
http://www.castlefordschools.com/kent/07-08%20lessons/Lessons/Advanced%20Biology%20Lessons/chapter%2031/Advanced%20Biology%20Chapter%2031%20Echinoderms%20and%20Invertebrate%20Chordates_files/image017.jpg
http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-starfish.jpg
http://www.cumberland.k12.il.us/schools/chs/starwalt%20projects/Starfish/starfish_dissection.htm
"Starfish Dissection"
http://www.marlin.ac.uk/imgs/Species/Echinodermata/o_astrub.jpg
Conclusion
The dissection went very well. The starfish was completely identified and no mistakes were made. All the arms were utilized and the organs were not mutilated during the process. The purpose of the dissection was accomplished since the activity allowed me to refresh my memory on dissection, which I had only done once before. The starfish was a challenge, considering its rough skin, but it was still a successful dissection.
Discussion
The process begin with identifying the outside of the starfish. Then I chose one arm to begin cutting. I made two horizontal cuts and peeled of the skin to find the hepatic ceca. After that, I chose another arm to cut and removed the hepatic ceca to see the ossicles, ampullae, and gonads. Another arm was removed to have a cross-section of the specimen, and another was removed to identify the tube feet on the ventral plane. I proceeded to cut open central disk carefully to keep the madreporic plate intact. Once removed, I was able to identify the pyloric stomach, remove it, and find all the organs and rings under it until I reached the cardiac stomach, esophagus, and mouth.
Photos
1. Madreporic Plate
2. Spines
3. Central Disk
4. Ray
5. Mouth
6. Tube Feet
7 . Stomach Coming Out Of Mouth
8. Pyloric Cecum (Digestive Gland)
9. Gonads
10. Stomach
11. Radial Canal
12. Madreporic Plate
13. Stone Canal
14. Ampullae
15. Ring Or Circular Canal
Procedure
1. Understand that the starfish is a marine animal that has a symmetrical endoskeleton. Starfish eat mollusks (mostly clams) and use hundreds of tiny tube feet for movement.
2. Know that the starfish has five legs called "rays" which are all connected at the central disk. Inspect the starfish, observing the spines on the rays and the tube feet which aid in locomotion. Locate the mouth which rests inside the central disk. Notice the ring of spines that surround the mouth. Label all outer features of the starfish before you dissect the starfish.
3. Prepare the tools you need to dissect the starfish. Necessary equipment includes a dissection tray, pins, a scalpel, scissors and a probe. Wear protective clothing and goggles to shield yourself from debris.
4. Pin the starfish to the dissection tray with the aboral (top) view facing you. Using your scalpel, cut off the tip of one ray. Make two long, parallel incisions (each incision close to the edge of the ray) from the tip to the central disk. Peel back the top layer of tissue and locate the lateral canal (where the tube feet attach) and the ring canal (where the lateral canals of all of the rays connect) and label these parts. The digestive glands are exposed; label these glands.
5. Cut tissue away from the central disk to find the stomach. Label the stomach and locate the gonads. It is impossible to detect the sex of the starfish without a telescope as the gonads of male and female starfish look identical.
6. Clean up your work area when finished with the starfish dissection. Ask your instructor to look at your labeled starfish to ensure you've found all of the parts required before you begin to clean up the area.
Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Forcipulatida |
| Family: | Asteriidae |
| Genus: | Asterias |
| Species: | Asterias rubens |
Introduction
Starfish are echinoderms that belong to the class Asteroidea. The echinoderms include only marine animals -- starfishes, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sand dollars. The starfish will be studied as the representative for this group. Their unique feature is the water vascular system, which is used as a means of locomotion. They also have a carbonaceous endoskeleton, whose projecting spines give the phylum its name - "spiny skin" in Greek. The echinoderms seem the most unpromising of all as potential ancestors of the vertebrates. They are radially symmetrical, in contrast to vertebrates; they have no internal skeleton, no trace of any of the three major chordate characters of notochord, nerve cord, or gill slits, and they have many peculiar and complicated organs of their own. But the embryology sheds an unexpected gleam of light. The early embryo of the echinoderm is a tiny creature, which floats freely in the sea water. Unlike the adult, the larva is bilaterally symmetrical, suggesting that the radial symmetry of the starfish is a secondary affair, assumed when the ancestors of these forms look up a sedentary existence. Then, too, the type of development of certain of the body cavities is identical with that found in the embryos of some primitive vertebrates. It is believed that the bilateral larva developed types which retained the original symmetry, and gradually evolved into the chordates and, finally, the true vertebrates.
Their organs are put into 8 systems:
1. Circulatory - Coelomic fluid, circulated by ciliary action, performs many of the normal
functions of a circulatory system.
2. Digestive - Starfishs feed on mollusks. When a starfish attacks a clam, it arches its body over
the shell, and by the concerted action of the tube feet, forces the clam to open.
Then it everts a portion of its stomach to digest the contents of the clam. The
mouth of a starfish opens into a narrow esophagus, which in turn leads to an
expanded stomach. The stomach has two portions: the saclike cardiac, which can be
everted as described, and the narrower pyloric, which is connected to a short
intestine. The anus opens on the aboral or upper side of the animal.
3. Exocrine - Each of the five arms contains a well-developed coelom, a pair of large digestive
glands that secrete powerful enzymes into the pyloric portion of the stomach, and
gonads.
4. Immune - Sea urchins are long lived, normally healthy animals that display remarkable
abilities to heal wounds and combat major infections. From an external point of
view, their immune systems obviously work very well. Thus, their cellular defense
systems are extremely sensitive, and they respond rapidly to minor perturbations, all
without any specific adaptive capabilities. These systems probably function through
the transduction of signals conveying information on injury and infection, just as do
the equivalent systems that underlie and back up the human immune systems, and
that provide the initial series of defenses against pathogenic invasions.
5. Musculo-skeletal - The water vascular system is purely for locomotion. Water enters this
system through a structure on the aboral side called the sieve plate, or
madreporite. From there, it passes through a short canal called the stone
canal, to a ring canal, which surrounds the mouth. From the ring canal,
five radial canals extend into the arms. From the radial canals, many lateral
canals extend into the tube feet. One lateral canal goes to each tube foot,
where it ends in the ampulla. When the ampulla contracts, the water is
forced into the tube foot, expanding it and giving it suction. By alternating
the expansion and the contraction of the tube feet, the starfish moves along
slowly. Typically, echinoderms have an endoskeleton (internal skeleton)
consisting of hard calcite ossicles embedded in the body wall and often
bearing protruding spines or tubercles.
6. Nervous and Sensory - The nervous system consists of a central nerve ring that supplies
radial nerves to each arm. A light-sensitive eyespot is at the tip of
each arm.
7. Reproductive - The starfish usually becomes sexually mature at about 12-14 months. Mating
mainly takes place between May and June (water temp. about 8 °C) when the
whole population are at the same depth and like an epidemic. The lifecycle of
most starfishes starts by shedding their eggs and sperm freely into the water,
so fertilization is externally. The very small chance of fertilization is
compensated by the enormous amounts of eggs and sperm cells. A female
starfish sheds in two hours several millions of eggs into the water, with a
mean diameter of 0.16-0.19 mm . After fertilization, a hollow ball develops,
called the blastula. The cells of the blastula possess cilia on the outside for
swimming. After one day a deep groove develops, leading to the gastrula. The
gastrula's of all types of echinoderms are very similar. But then differentiation
starts. The common starfish develops a so-called bipinnaria larva, with ciliated
bands running about the periphery. After several weeks the bipinnaria larva
takes on a more elaborate form, with longer projecting arms and after some
more weeks, a brachiolaria larva is formed. The larvae have their own gut,
with inside cilia to inhale and transport food particles. They feed themselves
with diatoms and other organisms in the plankton. The stomach is large and
round and situated at the backside. After this phase a large part of the larva
degenerates and at the rear side a rudimentary formed juvenile starfish
develops. The organs of the young starfish are formed anew.
8. Respiratory - There are skin gills, which project from the coelomic cavity, serve the
respiratory exchange.
9. Excretory - The starfish doesn't have any excretory organs other than the anus.
Their organs are put into 8 systems:
1. Circulatory - Coelomic fluid, circulated by ciliary action, performs many of the normal
functions of a circulatory system.
2. Digestive - Starfishs feed on mollusks. When a starfish attacks a clam, it arches its body over
the shell, and by the concerted action of the tube feet, forces the clam to open.
Then it everts a portion of its stomach to digest the contents of the clam. The
mouth of a starfish opens into a narrow esophagus, which in turn leads to an
expanded stomach. The stomach has two portions: the saclike cardiac, which can be
everted as described, and the narrower pyloric, which is connected to a short
intestine. The anus opens on the aboral or upper side of the animal.
3. Exocrine - Each of the five arms contains a well-developed coelom, a pair of large digestive
glands that secrete powerful enzymes into the pyloric portion of the stomach, and
gonads.
4. Immune - Sea urchins are long lived, normally healthy animals that display remarkable
abilities to heal wounds and combat major infections. From an external point of
view, their immune systems obviously work very well. Thus, their cellular defense
systems are extremely sensitive, and they respond rapidly to minor perturbations, all
without any specific adaptive capabilities. These systems probably function through
the transduction of signals conveying information on injury and infection, just as do
the equivalent systems that underlie and back up the human immune systems, and
that provide the initial series of defenses against pathogenic invasions.
5. Musculo-skeletal - The water vascular system is purely for locomotion. Water enters this
system through a structure on the aboral side called the sieve plate, or
madreporite. From there, it passes through a short canal called the stone
canal, to a ring canal, which surrounds the mouth. From the ring canal,
five radial canals extend into the arms. From the radial canals, many lateral
canals extend into the tube feet. One lateral canal goes to each tube foot,
where it ends in the ampulla. When the ampulla contracts, the water is
forced into the tube foot, expanding it and giving it suction. By alternating
the expansion and the contraction of the tube feet, the starfish moves along
slowly. Typically, echinoderms have an endoskeleton (internal skeleton)
consisting of hard calcite ossicles embedded in the body wall and often
bearing protruding spines or tubercles.
6. Nervous and Sensory - The nervous system consists of a central nerve ring that supplies
radial nerves to each arm. A light-sensitive eyespot is at the tip of
each arm.
7. Reproductive - The starfish usually becomes sexually mature at about 12-14 months. Mating
mainly takes place between May and June (water temp. about 8 °C) when the
whole population are at the same depth and like an epidemic. The lifecycle of
most starfishes starts by shedding their eggs and sperm freely into the water,
so fertilization is externally. The very small chance of fertilization is
compensated by the enormous amounts of eggs and sperm cells. A female
starfish sheds in two hours several millions of eggs into the water, with a
mean diameter of 0.16-0.19 mm . After fertilization, a hollow ball develops,
called the blastula. The cells of the blastula possess cilia on the outside for
swimming. After one day a deep groove develops, leading to the gastrula. The
gastrula's of all types of echinoderms are very similar. But then differentiation
starts. The common starfish develops a so-called bipinnaria larva, with ciliated
bands running about the periphery. After several weeks the bipinnaria larva
takes on a more elaborate form, with longer projecting arms and after some
more weeks, a brachiolaria larva is formed. The larvae have their own gut,
with inside cilia to inhale and transport food particles. They feed themselves
with diatoms and other organisms in the plankton. The stomach is large and
round and situated at the backside. After this phase a large part of the larva
degenerates and at the rear side a rudimentary formed juvenile starfish
develops. The organs of the young starfish are formed anew.
8. Respiratory - There are skin gills, which project from the coelomic cavity, serve the
respiratory exchange.
9. Excretory - The starfish doesn't have any excretory organs other than the anus.
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