Unmasking the Sea Star Killer
Hodin is fascinated by creatures who change form—“I’m even wearing my shirt,” he says, pointing to his T-shirt depicting a folk music festival celebrating metamorphosis. So when The Nature Conservancy asked him to try breeding sunflower stars, Hodin was excited. Sunflower stars go through a series of developmental stages—from eggs to poppy seed-sized larvae that float around for months to juvenile stars that settle on the sea floor and add more arms as they grow. And while plenty of sunflower st