How does a sea star attract a mate?

Answer 1

Sea Stars don't necessarily need a mate to breed, and they don't mate with an individual, or stay with a mate for any length of time. Starfish or Sea Stars, depending on the species can reproduce either sexually or asexually. The most common species are "dioecious", where the genders are separated into male and female individuals. There are some species that are born one gender, only to later change into another gender, as is the case with "Asterina gibbosa". This species is "protandric", they are born male, but later they will become females. Most Starfish use "free-spawning" reproduction techniques. Many experts agree that Sea Stars, use some forms of environmental signs and chemical signals, to gather into groups, or swarms before spawning to increase the odds of fertilization. Then they release their "gametes" into the water where they are fertilized by gametes of the opposite sex. Still other species reproduce by fragmentation. These species will often take advantage of a detachment to develop another individual Sea Star. For more details, please see the sites listed below.

Answer 2

The foremost factor that females look for in a male is pouch size. Some species of seahorse pump up their pouches to make them appear larger, while others 'pump' their pouches to court (it is best seen and is difficult to describe; the male keeps his upper body straight and continiously bends his tail to the front of his body, forcing open his pouch so the female can see that it is empty). Seahorses, as a general rule, are attracted to larger mates, but this is more prevalent in some species than others. Seahorses sometimes go through a colour change when attempting to court a mate.