Bad Starfish! - Zoanthids beware

[MrMikeB]

A painful lesson on why it is so important to QT/freshwater dip new corals. I found this guy happily munching on one of my more expensive Zoanthid frags. I believe he is of the Asterina family, and goes to show that not all Asterinas are safe for your reef. It is damn near impossible to tell this one apart from the more docile version that has an appetite for algae on the glass of your tank. Here are some pics of the culprit caught in the act - zoanthid still stuck in his mouth. His punishment was death by flushing (down the toilet that is) :mad2:

 

[funman1]

He's really red.
Mine are almost white, don't know if that makes a diff or not..

 

[MrMikeB]

The last picture is a trick with the shadow - the pics with the flash are unaltered and give a better idea on what it looked like. I should have busted out the macro lense now that I think of it...

A confirmation from ZoaID (for whats its worth) that some of these little guys love to taste zoanthids, while many are just fine with a bit of algae:

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&func=main&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1426

 

[Reef n' Madness]

Oh no! What an evil little starfish! So the only way to identify them is to catch them in the act?

 

[MrMikeB]

From my experience - yes, you have to be mindful of what things are doing (especially if you notice closed polyps or other things out of character). Most of these starfish you find in the hobby typically leave the corals alone. Personally I do not like Asterinas in general as I have seen them literally take over systems and multiply like crazy. They come out at night and you will find them all over the glass - at least the ones that seem to like the algae.

Some places sell Asterinas as part of a reef janitor pack, so to each his/her own I suppose. Personally, I like to follow a pragmatic approach to reef inhabitants overall, if you see something hanging out on a coral, it either eats it or lives in it, as most reef specimens do not venture too far from their food or their homes.

 

[brianbigoats]

mike i will take 5 of those starfish

 

[TeeLapia]

What sucks though is that they are hard to locate due to their size, only when you realize your tank is over run by these critters is when it is too late.
Mike you know of any predators for the Asterina? My nano has quite a few of them.

 

[MrMikeB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10403159#post10403159 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TeeLapia

Mike you know of any predators for the Asterina? My nano has quite a few of them.

Just Me... MUWWWAHAHAHAHA

Seriously though, I am not aware of natural predator that would be considered reef safe.

 

[mpoletti]

You can try a Harleqin shrimp. They are natural strafish predators.

 

[Bdimas]

I had a Asterina star take out a small colony of Armageddons in my wifes tank. I got ****ed off and let him dry out.

 

[TeeLapia]

Yea, I have noticed a drop off in my population of zoas in the tank. So I am pointing the finger at the asterina

 

[edsimmons]

So do Harlequin Shrimp eat asterina?

 

[Reefugee]

Matt Wandell was feeding his asterina to his Harleqin shrimp. But I thought he had mentioned to me that he was hand feeding them to get them used to asterina.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=454749