Published Date
published 1940
[page 3]
like the stars in the sky. The little prongs that stick out all over
them are what they walk with. In the center of the fish is the mouth,
which is also the stomach. The starfish spreads over the food he wants
and sucks it in and I tell you, Peggy Ann, oysters do not like starfish.
Starfish are about the only things in the ocean that can make oysters
open their shells."(1)
"How do they do it?" asked Peggy Ann.
"A starfish just moves quietly over the oyster until he gets it
directly under him, then bends down the five points of the star around it,
squeezes just the right spot, and bing! the shell opens. Then the oyster
goes into the mouth or stomach of the starfish, and it's good-bye little
oyster. (1)
"Look! look!" said the Captain, "under that ledge of coral where the
sunlight is streaming through. See all those striped yellow and black fish?
There must be a least a hundred. They are called prison fish, most likely
because of the yellow and black stripes, and they always swim in gangs.
But I would say they look very happy in spite of their name." (10) (11) (5)
"Yes," said Peggy Ann, "they should be happy in such a lovely
'prison.' But look at those waving plants-those bright-purple, ones-
just like ostrich feathers!"
"Those are sea plumes," said the Captain, "and they grow almost
as tall as trees. The yellow and pink plants you see are called sea