Friday, July 15, 2022

Upward projection

  


A close-up mystery photo!  

Can you guess what it might be?

[You can click on the image for a larger view.]

Those clusters of pink, finger-like projections are called papulae.  They extend above this animal's skin and are sites for respiration (gas exchange).

And the answer is...


 
 
The first photo was an extreme close-up of the upper surface of a Leather Star (Dermasterias imbricata).  Photographed 15 July 2022.

at

4 comments:

  1. John W. WallJuly 16, 2022 at 7:36 AM

    Beautiful. I love the close-up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alice ChanJuly 16, 2022 at 5:06 PM

    I would never have guessed that! Beautiful critter!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 17, 2022 at 4:58 AM

    Hi Jackie! We have a question: how big is this star fish? Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jackie SonesJuly 17, 2022 at 11:53 AM

    Hello!

    Thanks for the comments and questions!

    Re: the size of the sea star. I didn't measure, but it was about the size of my hand with fingers spread out -- so perhaps around 16 cm (6 inches) across from arm tip to arm tip.

    I hope this helps!

    Jackie

    ReplyDelete