Animal Fact Sheets
Bat Star
Scientific Name
Distribution
Asterina miniat
The bat sea star can be found in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska
to Baja California.
Bat sea stars are found on rocks, among surfgrass, and on rock
and sand bottoms from low-tide line to water 960 feet deep.
Living or dead animals and vegetation
The bat sea star can live 30 years in captivity
Not threatened or endangered
Habitat
Diet
Longevity
Conservation Status
General Information • While often called a starfish, these animals are not at all related to fish
and thus scientists prefer the name sea star. They are invertebrates or animals without backbones.
• Sea stars have a remarkable ability to regenerate. Some species of sea star
have the ability to regenerate lost arms (an arm ripped off by a predator)
and can re-grow an entire new arm in time.
• Sea stars move using a system called the water vascular system. Water is
sucked into the sea star through a small hole on top of the animal and runs
through its tube feet. There are thousands of tube feet all over the sea star’s
underside which are used for movement, capturing food and breathing.
• Sea stars are adept at eating bivalves (clams, oysters, mollusks). A sea star
will wrap its body around prey and use strong arms to pull the shell open.
The sea stars stomach is then pushed out of its mouth and digests the prey
while it is still inside the shell.
Bottlenose Dolphin (Atlantic)
Scientific Name
Habitat
Distribution
Diet
Longevity
Conservation Status
Tursiops truncates
Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico
Coastal regions, bays, lagoons, gulfs, and estuaries
Wide variety of fishes, squids, and crustaceans such as shrimp.
20-40 years
Not threatened or endangered
General Information • Dolphins are mammals. Even though the spend their lives in the water, dolphins breathe air, give birth to live young, and have hair around the
top of their mouth at birth.
• Dolphins communicate with each other in different ways. Researchers
believe dolphins are capable of making 30 to 40 different sounds. They
make all of these sounds from their nose, or blowhole, on the top of their
head. Another way that they communicate is through body language. They
can slap either their tails or the sides of their bodies against the surface of
the water.
• Dolphins can reach speeds of 18 miles an hour, dive to 1,000 feet and jump
16 feet in the air.
• Dolphins track prey using echolocation. By sending out a series of clicks,
as many as 1,000 per second, a dolphin can determine the size, shape and
distance of an object.
• Dolphins are top predators in their ocean habitat. Killer whales and sharks
will occasionally prey on old, weak or young dolphins.
The Indianapolis Zoo Animal Diversity Program
09