Starfish Development Slides

Study starfish development stages and evolutionary development.

• Starfish eggs are large and components are clearly visible
• Great developmental biology subject
• Investigate egg cleavage stages

Starfish are invertebrate deuterostomes and are related to chordates, the clade that includes vertebrates. Because of this, starfish make good subjects to study developmental biology from an evolutionary perspective. Starfish eggs are large and usually transparent, making the developmental processes easier to observe for researchers and students. We offer individual starfish slides in varying stages of development.

 : Available individual starfish development slides include: Unfertilized Egg: Large ovum with yolk evenly distributed; Egg, Polar Body: Fertilized starfish egg with polar body; Egg, Early/Late Cleavage: Starfish egg with early/late cleavage; Egg, Late Cleavage: As cleavage progresses, blastomeres decrease in size and the segmentation cavity begins; Blastula: Displays large blastocoel; Gastrula: Shows development of deuterostome, or second mouth. The mouth forms as a secondary opening at the opposite end of the blastopore; Late Gastrula: Shows formation of coelom as the development of two large lateral pockets that eventually separate from the archenteron; Embryology Composite: Unfertilized egg through gastrula; mixed forms; Young Transparent: Asterias. Young, transparent starfish just after metamorphosis.