LATIN POST - STARFISH MUTILATE THEMSLEVES THEN DIE full article
... mysterious health condition is actually causing starfish to tear themselves to pieces, literally.
Scientists with the United States Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center say the arms of infected starfish begin to twist and then crawl, pulling away from and eventually off of the bodies entirely.
To make things worse, the resulting holes, from which the starfish's innards are then spilling out, are not able to heal, due to the disease...
Divers and scientists first reported the macabre illness along the Washington state coast, although infected starfish have since been sighted in the waters of Alaska, as well as Southern California.
Scientists say they first detected the mass deaths among one star species, the sunflower starfish, last June.
Now the condition, dubbed "sea star wasting syndrome," has spread to 12 species, affecting stars in the wild and also in captivity, according to Jonathan Sleeman, director of the wildlife health center....
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