David Kemmerer, age 9, of Peoria, I11., for his question:

DOES A STARFISH HAVE EYES?

The starfish is not a true fish, though the simple little animal may be shaped like a five pointed star. His little round mouth is in the middle, right over his tummy. His pointed arms spend most of the time searching for food. He can spread them out flat or use them to walk around on tiptoe. And, strange to say, at the tip of each arm there is a little something that scientists call an eyespot.

It does not look out at the world and see what we do. Some experts suspect that a starfish eyespot really cannot see at all. However, it can tell the difference between and darkness. And some experts think that it also can test the salty chemicals in sea water. When the starfish loses an arm, he can grow a new one. And almost always he remembers to add a new eyespot.