Strange, Scary Creatures

Question

In a land not far away,
There live some scary creatures.
I'm terrified to see them,
Having heard about their features.

They have no left, or even right,
Or even front or back.
They're dedicated carnivores.
I hope I'm not their snack!

Without a heart or even blood,
Good heavens, what a curse!
But hold your hats, my good friends.
It sadly gets much worse.

Some have up to fifty arms
And many thousand feet!
I guess that means they're quick enough
To make me their next treat.

It's good their mouths are kind of small,
But don't feel safe just yet.
They send their stomachs on a quest
To eat all they can get.

They eat things larger than their mouths.
That has me quite alarmed.
I couldn't sneak past all those eyes
To keep from being harmed.

They have no bones to hold them up,
But still they crawl around.
They have no mind to help them think,
And do not make a sound.

They reproduce like you and me,
But buddy, just beware:
They have been known to do the job
Completely solitaire!

Are they from outer space?
An asteroid nearby?
Their skin is hard and spiny,
And their image makes me cry.

So I won't go to see them,
Although my neighbors do.
I'm frightened by the thought of them
And man, you should be too!

---

What are these creatures?

Answer 1

I believe they are

Sea stars, more popularly known as starfish

Explanation:

In a land not far away,
There live some scary creatures.
I'm terrified to see them,
Having heard about their features.

Starfish are creatures, and live in the ocean -- "not far" compared to "outer space", mentioned later.

They have no left, or even right,
Or even front or back.
They're dedicated carnivores.
I hope I'm not their snack!

Starfish have no left, right, front or back. Instead, they have radial symmetry. They are also carnivorous.

Without a heart or even blood,
Good heavens, what a curse!
But hold your hats, my good friends.
It sadly gets much worse.

Starfish have no circulatory system. No heart or blood.

Some have up to fifty arms
And many thousand feet!
I guess that means they're quick enough
To make me their next treat.

Starfish often have 5 arms, but can have as many as 50. They walk on thousands of hydraulic "tube feet".

It's good their mouths are kind of small,
But don't feel safe just yet.
They send their stomachs on a quest
To eat all they can get.

Starfish have a "cardiac stomach", that can be pushed out of their mouth to envelop prey.

They eat things larger than their mouths.
That has me quite alarmed.
I couldn't sneak past all those eyes
To keep from being harmed.

Starfish have a compound eye at the end of each arm.

They have no bones to hold them up,
But still they crawl around.
They have no mind to help them think,
And do not make a sound.

Starfish do not have any biology for sound making. They also do not have a brain or bones.

They reproduce like you and me,
But buddy, just beware:
They have been known to do the job
Completely solitaire!

Starfish can reproduce sexually, but also via fission, asexually.

Are they from outer space?
An asteroid nearby?
Their skin is hard and spiny,
And their image makes me cry.

"Space" clues the "star" in sea star, and "asteroid" points to the scientific Class of starfish: Asteroidea. Also, starfish have hard, spiny skin, and the speaker's image of them in his mind is quite terrifying.

So I won't go to see them,
Although my neighbors do.
I'm frightened by the thought of them
And man, you should be too!

People do enjoy seeing starfish at an aquarium or in the wild. Although, as explained here, starfish biology is pretty frightening.

Answer 2

Perhaps

Jellyfish?

Explanation (not complete yet)

- The ocean is not far away and is habitat to some real scary creatures if you ask me
- They have no heart, blood, lungs, brain or bones
- Polyp forms can reproduce asexually (solitary(aire))
- They have multiple "eye spots/clusters"
- Varying amount of tentacles, some have well more than 50
- Carnivorous, some jellyfish eat fish or even other jellyfish.
- Spiny skinned (Echinodermata)
- Not sure about the neighbor, scuba diving?

Answer 3

Note: This is answer is found by@Drew Dormann. Please check out @Drew Dormanns answer here.

Answer:

Starfish

They have no left, or even right,

Starfish done have a sense of relative direction.


Or even front or back.

Starfish done have a sense of relative direction.


They're dedicated carnivores.

Starfish eat dead and alive fish.


I hope I'm not their snack!

No animal wants to be eaten

Without a heart or even blood,

Starfish do not have blood or a heart


Good heavens, what a curse! But hold your hats, my good friends.
It sadly gets much worse.

Some have up to fifty arms

Starfish have many more arms than 5


And many thousand feet!

Starfish could have 1000 arms


I guess that means they're quick enough
To make me their next treat.

Starfish arms are even by animals

It's good their mouths are kind of small, 
But don't feel safe just yet.

The animal eats food


They send their stomachs on a quest
To eat all they can get.

They eat alive and dead food

They eat things larger than their mouths.

Starfish can bite and separate animals to eat them.


That has me quite alarmed.
I couldn't sneak past all those eyes To keep from being harmed.

Starfish have lots of eyes (50 eyes)

They have no bones to hold them up,
>! Starfish have 0 bones

But still they crawl around.

Starfish can crawl


They have no mind to help them think,

Starfish have no brain


And do not make a sound.

Starfish dont make sound

They reproduce like you and me,

Starfish create offspring


But buddy, just beware:
They have been known to do the job
Completely solitaire!

Like plants they reproduce by themselves

Are they from outer space?

Star


An asteroid nearby?

Stars have a strong gravitational pull so astroids go at them.


Their skin is hard and spiny,

Starfish have hard and spiny skin.


And their image makes me cry.

You cry seeing starfish?

So I won't go to see them,
Although my neighbors do.
I'm frightened by the thought of them
And man, you should be too!