Patterns in Nature: Sea Stars

sriflipflop

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A necklace sea star nestles among the C-shaped emerald tentacles of anchor coral in the western Pacific Ocean.

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A red-and-yellow necklace sea star clings to a sea fan in the Maldives.

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An ochre sea star (background) shares a kelp-strewn beach with a bright-red cousin at low tide on Washington's Tongue Point.

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A sea star with vibrant purple coloring rests on an ocean floor

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The white dorsal plates of this sea star, photographed in the western Pacific Ocean, give it a calico pattern that helps it blend with its rocky surroundings.

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Ochre sea stars, like this pair in Burnaby Narrows on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, are normally purple but can adapt a wide variety of colors depending on individual habitat.

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The pattern on this Indonesian sea star echoes the batik prints the Southeast Asian archipelago is known for.