Growth and Change

Getting a new house will be a big change for us, obviously. But to prove that we're not the only ones undergoing some change, here's what's new in the zoo.

I have a small, off-white starfish in my 55 gallon saltwater display tank. Apparently, conditions there favor small, off-white starfish because this one is multiplying like crazy. Note, I did not say "breeding" like crazy. Like many marine invertebrates, starfish can reproduce by splitting themselves into one or more pieces. Periodically, the starfish divides itself in half, and each half grows new legs to become a full starfish again. Since this happens frequently, I never see starfish with five legs of equal size anymore. They are always lopsided, with mature, normal-length legs and small, growing legs. Sometimes they have several different sizes as once, which means the individual has divided often. Anyways, enough with the science lesson. I actually caught the "birth" of a new starfish, since it was on the glass at the front of the tank. Here's what it looks like.

That's the evil dottyback in the background. He chases fish out of the tank when he can.

Two semi-new, soon-to-be-whole starfish. Odd, but amazing. And I'm sure it all happens by accident and blind chance. Really.

The dogs are changing, too. Fortunately, they're not about to split and leave us with six two-legged dogs to take care of. Thankfully. But here's a picture of Cyrus and Mya I posted earlier, from the beginning of April. And next is a picture I took yesterday. He's so big, and he'll get so much bigger!