Starfish have eyes on the ends of their limbs that help them navigate ocean floor, scientists have learned.

Research shows the eyes, similar to those of insects, are capable of forming images.

When the eyes are missing, starfish stumble around randomly instead of heading towards food sources.

Anders Garm, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said: “The results show that the starfish nervous system must be able to process visual information..

“From an evolutionary point of view it is interesting, because the morphology (shape) of the starfish eyes along with their optical quality is close to the theoretical eye early in eye evolution, when image formation first appeared.”

The research was presented at the Society for Experimental Biology annual meeting in Valencia, Spain.