Starfish?

[Vegas Marine]

Found this guy on some base rock today. Pretty sure it's a starfish??? about 1/2" across.

Any idea where he came from? I have a sand shifting star, can they multiply/give birth/lay eggs???

 

[steve-s]

Asterina sp. is a common hitchhiker, it must have come in on some rock. They are an opportunistic feeder that will prey primarily on worms and algaes for the most part.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Vegas Marine]

Thanks Steve! Kinda cool getting 'free stuff' from time to time...

 

[ajacinth]

My understanding is that these little guys will feed on corals. If you have any you might want to get rid of it, as they reproduce fairly fast.

Here is an article explaining --> http://www.thesea.org/index_ce_161_.html

 

[CBRGuy]

My understanding is that these little guys will feed on corals. If you have any you might want to get rid of it, as they reproduce fairly fast.

Here is an article explaining --> http://www.thesea.org/index_ce_161_.html

Those are different from the one in the picture. I have a ton of the ones that Vegas has (100+) and all of my corals are still in tact. The cool/bad thing is that they split over and over again so you will soon have many more

 

[steve-s]

Agreed with CBRguy. There are many different types of Asterina sp. and all get the same bad rap. Many are not parasitic and will leave corals alone, as I said their main diet (in this case) is worms and algaes.

Cheers
Steve

 

[ajacinth]

Could you ID.

Could you look at my other post.

--> http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=37482&highlight=

I found two in my tank, one had a strangle hold on one of my corals. I separated them, but would like to get rid of them if in deed they are detrimental.