| Porthole 28 Apr 21

WE know the ocean can be an unforgiving place, but apparently even more so than we once knew, with scientists recently documenting baby starfish cannibalising their siblings for the very first time.

To grow into the adults that can be seen scattered along a beach, juvenile starfish must eat vast quantities of food, and the research suggests eating their siblings offers an advantage.

Because female starfish produce up to 10 million eggs per year, that is a lot of potential competition for a juvenile.

A starfish eating its sibling not only helps them grow, but also removes future competitors from their surroundings.

“We think, anthropomorphizing, that cannibalism is terrible, but in nature, red in tooth and claw, this is something that can be favoured,” the Ecological Society of America said.