Everyone knows a turtle when he sees one. Turtles are easy to recognize by their shells. A baby turtle is born with a shell just the right size for its body. As the turtle grows, its shell grows too.

The hard shells of most turtles are made up of a “bony box” covered by horny plates. A turtle can’t crawl out of its shell. The shell makes up much of a turtle’s skeleton, and is firmly attached to its body. Turtles are well-protected by their shells. Some turtles, such as the box turtle, can pull their heads, tails, and legs into their shell when frightened. Then, very few enemies can get at them.

All turtles hatch from eggs. The mother turtle lays the eggs in a hole she has dug. She then leaves them. The sun’s warmth hatches the eggs in about two months. As soon as the baby turtles are hatched, they are on their own. They must be able to tend for themselves. – Dick Rogers

A starfish is a star-shaped animal that lives on the bottom of the sea in bays and shallow water. Starfish eat clams and other shellfish by pulling the shells apart and pushing their stomach into the shells to digest the food.

Starfish have a peculiar way of eating. The common starfish feeds mostly on shellfish, it especially likes to eat clams, oysters, and mussels.

To open a clam shell, the starfish wraps its arms around it. Under each arm are rows of tube like feet that stick to the shell like suction cups. The starfish then pulls the two section of the clam’s shell assist with its powerful arms.

A starfish’s mouth is under its body. As soon as a starfish has pulled open the clam, it opens its mouth, turns it stomach inside out and pushes it inside the clam’s shell and digests the clam’s soft body.

Once the meat is finished, the starfish pulls back its stomach, leaving only an empty clam shell behind. Most starfish have five arms, but some have seven arms or more. If a starfish loose an arm, it can grow another. – Dick Rogers