Question

If a starfish is cut into pieces, each piece grows into a complete animal. The process is called
(a) Regeneration
(b) Reproduction
(c) Healing of the wound
(d) Growth

Answer 1

Hint: Starfish are capable of restoring their lost body parts completely by a natural phenomenon. It is a characteristic feature of the organism. Some other organisms like hydra and planaria also show this type of phenomenon.

Complete answer:
When the starfish is cut into pieces, each of the pieces can grow into a complete animal due to its ability to regenerate.
Regeneration is a natural process of replacing or restoring missing cells, tissues, or organs. Some animals like starfish can even grow their entire body parts to full function using this ability.

Additional Information: Regeneration is the natural process of renewal, restoration, and tissue growth and is seen in almost every organism from bacteria to humans. It can be complete or incomplete depending on whether the new tissue is the same as the lost one or fibrosis comes after the necrotic tissue. Hydra is another organism that can perform regeneration.
Reproduction is the essential process by which an organism gives rise to new and similar organisms and helps to carry out generations of the species. These are mainly two types- sexual where two organisms take part to produce the progeny and asexual where only one parent is involved.
Wound healing is also a type of regeneration but isn't normally considered one. Rather it is the phenomenon of replacement of destroyed tissue of an organism by newly produced tissues. It is a complex and fragile process and requires special care to prevent infection and reinjury.
Growth is a very broad term in biology and it is a fundamental process shown by living organisms. Even non-living objects like sand dunes, mountains, etc grow but these are not considered growth in biology. Rather it is the enlargement of the size of the body or organ or part by cellular differentiation.
Therefore, the correct answer is “Regeneration”..

Note: Starfish belongs to the class Asteroidea of Echinodermata and has the unique ability to regenerate its lost arms and even its whole body from a single-arm by regeneration but it may take several months or years. They are also prone to infections while the regeneration process takes place. The reasons for the breaking can be related to reproduction as well as injury or escape mechanisms related to protection from predators.