I'd never seen a Blue Sea Star
(Linckia laevigata) until these ones at the
Manila Ocean Park. Isn't that blue just fabulous? The
Linckia genus is one of those with regenerative powers. It can sever one of its arms in self-defense to escape from a predator and grow it back later (I just learned that the word for it is
autotomy). It can also reproduce asexually, separating an arm which will grow four tiny stubs until the whole thing matures into another sea star. Isn't nature just so amazing?