Starfish ID

[fergieturk]

Okay so I forgot what type of starfish I have. I don't have a photo yet b/c the film has yet to be developed.
All I know is that he is a serpent-type star - looks like a brittle with brown and tan stripes on him. Is he just a brittle star or does he have a specific name? I would like to know so I can do a search and figure out how big he will get. Right now each leg is about 8 1/2 inches long and his disk is like 1 1/2 inches. 8O How big will he get - his legs were 4 inches when I got him in November.
-Michelle

 

[michealprater]

Sounds like a serpent star to me. I'm not sure how big they get though. I know they can get quite large. From you description it sounds like the larger brittle stars that I have seen. Im not sure if he will get much larger than that.

 

[fergieturk]

Thanks, Michael. I didn't know if there was a specific type she/he is or not. I just want to know how big this gal/guy will get. I can't believe how fast she/he has grown so far - doubling in size in like 5 months. 8O

 

[michealprater]

No problem , maybe when you get a pic posted someone can give you a scientific name.

 

[reefrunner69]

If you can't post the pic...do a google images search using "brittle star" as your search terms, you may be able to find your starfish and work backwards from the pic to get a scientific name, if not, you could give us a link to a pic that looks like your star.

 

[fergieturk]

Okay, this is the closest photo I can find of it. Mine has furrier legs.

 

[ReefLady]

The pic you posted looks like a Banded Serpent star. When you say "furrier" legs, it's probably what we refer to as a Brittle star - the legs are "spiky". We have a Black Brittle star, and also what is referred to as a "Tiger" brittle - it's very dark (brown-black), but you can see faint cream-colored stripes on the legs.

As far as size, ours have been very large (16" from tip to tip) for quite a while (years), so I can't remember how quickly they grew. I love my 'Sea Monsters'!