The really incredible thing here isn't the robot, it's the poison, this thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar stuff. It isn't itself lethal, but it's a culture medium for bacteria which are:
www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d097p085.pdf
So the injection basically amplifies specific members of the starfish's own microbiome to the point where they not only kill the starfish, but infect and kill its neighbours.
www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d097p085.pdf
So the injection basically amplifies specific members of the starfish's own microbiome to the point where they not only kill the starfish, but infect and kill its neighbours.
That is highly ingenious, and severely creepy.