In 1883 Romanes first demonstrated the capacity of starfish to detect the presence of food. He claimed to be able to lead them in any direction by holding a piece of crab an inch or two from the end of one of the arms. He concluded that if the food was not more than a few inches away the starfish could smell it and move towards it. Milligan (1915 a-c) observed thatAsterias rubensmoved towards a dead pipefish from distances of 1½ in to 2 ft., and emphasized that the determined movement left no doubt that the starfish could smell the fish. Regnart (1928) found thatA. rubenscould locate food hidden in a bait chamber, moving away from the aerator in the centre of the tank.
