A Star In My Tank

[gerryo]

   I took some of the rock out of my 33g today and done some scrubing of the algea buildup caused by the tank being neglected for the past month.  I cleaned it in fresh water expecting not to find any life left in it and placed the rock into my 15g just to have somewhere to keep it wet.

To my surprise, I found a small star on the glass after about an hour.  I have no idea what kind it is or even what colour it is as it has it's back toward the rock.  It is about the size of a dime and is scraping algea off the glass.  All of my live rock is from Figi so this might give some idea as to species.

Any help would be appreciated.   

[Vincenzo.]

Ophiuroid. - baby brittle. it's a Score.

[LittleX]

Funny thing is that I found one the other day also, but mine is much smaller.

[mikerobart]

I found a really tiny one awhile ago too, then it kept turning up every couple weeks with few and fewer arms. This thing was white / beige about the size of a penny or nickel. Sometimes new arms would appear / dissapear.. last I saw it, it has three arms I think  .

My biggest score ever was on a piece of LR with xenia on it from Marinescape. I think I paid around $40 for a nice size piece of LR completely covered in coralline and some nice xenia all over as well.

When we got it in the bag, "hey you got a brittle star in there as well"... do I have to pay extra ? Nope. Brittle star loves his xenia rock and only leaves it at night.. in the day he really packs himself into a tight spot and only leaves his arm out to scavenge food sometimes. About 12" from tip of one appendage to the tip of the opposite. He is terrifying and awesome.

[gerryo]

   Good find LittleX.

No Vince, it's not a brittle star. I have those also, but this one is regular starfish shape. Sort of fat with full shape rather than a round body and thin legs.

When it moved on the front glas last night I was able to see that it is sort of chocolate brown on the back with white (beige) on the glass side.  May be a piece of chocolate !  lol.  Can't find it this morning.  Must have a secret hole for hiding.  

[Vincenzo.]

i need a pic and i can tell you.

[Vincenzo.]

asternia maybe?







I QUOTED THIS

"Asterina starfish, or more commonly known as Fiji starfish are generally dime sized or smaller with a large body, irregular arm length, and an irregular number of arms. They tend to hide among corals and in the crevices of the live rock during the day and can sometimes be seen clinging to the corners of the tank. This type of starfish has been shown to eat coralline algae and some corals; specifically acropora, xenia, green star polyps, zoanthids, and several types of soft leather corals. These starfish divide across the main body with two or three legs of varying lengths and multiply rapidly. Remove these starfish if they start to bother your corals. "


this help?

vince

[gerryo]

Hi all.  Maybe you remember back in July I posted that I had a sea star in my tank.
Well, I have been keeping an eye out for it all along, haven't seen it for 2 months.
Then there it is today back on the glass.
Seems funny though.  I have nothing in my tank that would damage it, but it is missing 2 of it't legs.  The only thing possible that I can think is that my blue leg crabs did this.
Are they capable of this sort of attack?  Snails or pods can't do this so it must be the blues.  Any opinions.

It is good to see him again tho.

[10gnano]

i think that they are a very brittle species, I have 2 -3 of them and none of them have all there legs, but they are all getting bigger every time i see em. it could be something as small as rocks shifting in your tank

[Funkmotor]

Asterina starfish - which might be what you have - are the usual star shape.  Brittle stars, on the other hand, have a large central disc and then very thin arms coming out of that.  So that will tell you something right there.

As for seeing them with varying numbers of arms, Asterina reproduce by breaking off arms...they are all clones.  So if you see one with missing arms, or something that looks like an arm without the rest of the starfish, then that is what's going on.

[sdivell]

Asterina starfish - which might be what you have - are the usual star shape.  Brittle stars, on the other hand, have a large central disc and then very thin arms coming out of that.  So that will tell you something right there.

As for seeing them with varying numbers of arms, Asterina reproduce by breaking off arms...they are all clones.  So if you see one with missing arms, or something that looks like an arm without the rest of the starfish, then that is what's going on.

+1 - they talked about these on one of the episodes of Reefcast.  They can be a little pest like because they reproduce a lot, there is something that eats them, but for the life of me i can't remember what.

[Vincenzo.]

they are good. and it's the harlequin shrimp that eats them or prolly a type of wrasse

[gerryo]

Good Morn guys. 
Thanx for the comments. Yeah, it;s good to see it back, and if there's gonna be more, then I'll welcome them too.  Small tanks are great for this kind of thing.  Maybe I'll keep a Nano as well as a larger tank.

See you all at the garage sale later.