Brittle star arm alive and kicking after 2 days

Martini5788

Martini5788

New member
So I posted this in the new to the hobby forum, but maybe I will get an answer here. I was rearranging rocks the other day and accidentally cut off one of my brittle stars legs, very close to the main body. I left it in the tank, kinda figured the puffer would munch on it, and did t think much of it. Well after I turned off the lights tonight, out crawls the separated arm from a rock. Fine and dandy and looking for food. How did the arm know that it was dark? Why is it still alive? WHAT IS GOING ON? I honestly
Don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep for awhile. Very creepy.
 
The "eyes" and other sensory organs are located on the arms. Stars have hundreds of them all over their body, this would explain why the arm is fully responsive to it's surroundings.

However back tracking to the idea that this is a detached arm.. I honestly have no idea how it's actually alive this long.. is there any vital organs attached to the end of the leg still? Legs can become new stars if some of the vital organs are still present, but I've never actually seen this happen before or even heard of it happening to a hobbyist by unintentional occurence.

Odd indeed.
 
Idk what would I look for to see if there are organs attached? It really looks like Just the leg. I moved it out of my display tank last night And into the mantis tank so I could keep an eye on it.
 
In order for a severed star arm to regenerate a new body, it must have a portion of the central disk attached. I suspect what you've got is a "dead end" that will eventually stop moving around. It's unsettling and a bit creepy, but all you can do is wait and see.
 
It's a Zombie starfish arm! Shoot it in the head! Oh wait, it doesn't have a head! You're screwed, it's going to turn your mantis into a zombie too!
 
Idk why the video is not working. I tried to upload another one but it didn't work either. It is 100% not a worm. I will try to upload again in a little bit. When should I expect it to die exactly? I'm not going to remove it alive, there is a lid on the tank so I know it can't escape and come back to haunt me
 
I worked the first time for me so it must just be redbelly's compatability with the browser/device he's watching it on.

I don't know when it might die, if it's vital organs/central disk isn't intact (doesn't look like it) then it's probably going to perish soon enough. I'd picture infection to have took it's toll already, surprised the leg is alive this long. I'd see how this goes as this is pretty incredible and not really heard of around here.
 
i think it would be interesting to see what it does with a little piece of raw shrimp. you can always fish it out if it isn't interested but i'm so curious to see if the arm would wrap around it.

i dunno...do they smell food? i know when i put the feeding stick in the water with shrimp on the end, my stars come out of nowhere and they move a mach speed! sometimes a little guy will grab the shrimp first and then the huge guy will scoop the little guy up and wrap his huge arms (or are they legs?) around him and it looks for all the world like the huge guy is gonna eat the shrimp, little guy and all!

so here i sit. wondering about the leg (or is it an arm) of a star fish i never knew. when there is so much strife in the world and people don't have enough to eat...i really need to get a life!
 
Nina51 said:
i think it would be interesting to see what it does with a little piece of raw shrimp. you can always fish it out if it isn't interested but i'm so curious to see if the arm would wrap around it.

i dunno...do they smell food? i know when i put the feeding stick in the water with shrimp on the end, my stars come out of nowhere and they move a mach speed! sometimes a little guy will grab the shrimp first and then the huge guy will scoop the little guy up and wrap his huge arms (or are they legs?) around him and it looks for all the world like the huge guy is gonna eat the shrimp, little guy and all!

so here i sit. wondering about the leg (or is it an arm) of a star fish i never knew. when there is so much strife in the world and people don't have enough to eat...i really need to get a life!
Click to expand...


Hahahaha rofl. I will feed it tonight when I turn the lights off and see what it does. I'll video it as well.
 
No problem! I am interested as well, and I can always remove the shrimp if nothing happens with it. Or the mantis will eat it
 
Nina51 said:
i dunno...do they smell food?
Click to expand...

Yes they do,

From my understanding, starfish have very weird nervous and sensory systems. They lack brains, but yet have nerves to feel the environment and respond appropriately. Their vision relies on eyes located all over the body, more specifically along the legs, which we cannot see by our eyes. Not sure what would be classified as "the nose" but they seem very responsive to the smell of food entering the water collumn. The majority (if not all) eat with their stomaches turned inside out.. they eat their food like you'd eat a pop rocket, with your tongue or in this case, stomache just melting it. (Which is why I don't think feeding the leg is an option since this stomache is obviously not present.. but the leg may still react and try to consume it without the present organ, guess it'd be entertaining to watch haha).

Starfish are really strange.
 
Calappidae said:
Yes they do,



From my understanding, starfish have very weird nervous and sensory systems. They lack brains, but yet have nerves to feel the environment and respond appropriately. Their vision relies on eyes located all over the body, more specifically along the legs, which we cannot see by our eyes. Not sure what would be classified as "the nose" but they seem very responsive to the smell of food entering the water collumn. The majority (if not all) eat with their stomaches turned inside out.. they eat their food like you'd eat a pop rocket, with your tongue or in this case, stomache just melting it. (Which is why I don't think feeding the leg is an option since this stomache is obviously not present.. but the leg may still react and try to consume it without the present organ, guess it'd be entertaining to watch haha).



Starfish are really strange.
Click to expand...


Yes, they are very strange. I'm not sure how many of these little weirdos I want.
 
thanks, joe. very interesting!

Martini5788 said:
I'm not sure how many of these little weirdos I want.
Click to expand...

yeah, well, your problem will be solved when this detached leg (arm?) grows disproportionally and yeah, it may take a day, a week, several months, but eventually it'll consume everything in its path, including you and as you scream in agony as the arm (leg?) squeezes the life outta you, and you'll wish you had been nicer to it and used a kinder description than "weirdo".

i'm not kidding. i know these things.
 
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