Brittle sea star question

[bob8619]

I have a brittle star fish (whatever kind, dark brown or black in color ) and last night he decided to pull a home invasion on my pistol/goby pairs burrow. I haven't seen the pistol all day which is abnormal for him so I'm sorta worried that he may have been eaten. He was a little guy ,less than 1 inch.

What are the chances that the starfish could/would catch and eat the shrimp? I'm hoping he just got scared and is hiding but I can't help but worry.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sam.basye]

I added a small 3-4" serpent star that eventually made it to Snappy's, my pistol shrimp, burrow and I found the star at the glass with most of its arms mutilated from the shrimp. It lived, but I put it in the fuge after the traumatic experience. My shrimp is olive green, about 2.5" long, and came from from S. Florida. The serpent was a camouflage tan/brown coloration, also from S. Florida. Hope your little guy is okay!

 

[bob8619]

Me too. I forgot to add that the star is probably about 10''.

 

[JwAllen]

Once brittle stars obtain a good size they can sometimes become predatory, especially if hungry. I have had a brittle star eat a firefish, so a goby could probably be fair game. As far as the shrimp goes I would think it could defend itself.

Most likely the star hasn't hurt anything and the shrimp is simply molting.

 

[hotelbravo]

the only real predatory species of brittle stars are the green ones