brittle star help!

[attack11]

i just found my brittle star in 2 pieces under my substrate. both parts started moving as soon as they were uncovered. can i save either part? both halves moved toward rock quickly.

 

[justinl]

imo, just leave them be. sea stars have amazing regenerative abilities so you'll probably end up with two stars (unless both die). not a whole lot you can do except leave em be and keep up water quality. oh, and try to figure out why the star split in two in the first place? did you move the rocks around and maybe crushe em? attack from a tankmate? etc

 

[attack11]

i haven't done much to the tank in almost 2 months due to other issues coming up. the water quality is 'ok'. it's not as good as it was before the stuff happened, so i'm trying to recover things now.

i'm thinking that it might've gotten stuck in the substrate and the water movement damaged it before it was covered. i changed the flow today and lessened it drastically and it popped out.

 

[dragonette]

do both pieces have part of the 'body' (center round area)?

I read somewhere- dont ask me for a link I havent a clue....

That starfish will split of sort as a measure of survival/reproduction- kinda like an anemone does. as long as both parts have a piece of the mouth/body they can regen.

Jess

 

[loosecannon]

That`s a brittle star, NOT a sea star! brittle stars don`t regenerate! only sea stars.

 

[justinl]

sea stars and brittle stars are both echinoderms. all echinoderms have the ability to regenerate lost body parts.

 

[teamdulski]

ditto^^

 

[greenbean36191]

Yes, they can regenerate new body parts, but that doesn't mean they can all regenerate from body parts. Typically brittles and serpents need part of at least three 3 legs to get around. Any piece that breaks off with fewer than that dies regardless of how much of the body goes with it. That's one of the ways you can tell whether a given species is likely to reproduce by splitting. If they have 6 legs, there's a good change they're a splitter. If they only have 5 they aren't.

I suspect that both halves of this star will go on moving for as long as a week or two, but with that much damage both will probably die.

 

[loosecannon]

Justinl, and dildo, Yes they are both in the phylum Echinoderms. But sea stars are in the class Asteroidea. Brittle, Serpent, and basket stars are in the Class Ophiuroidea, and they don`t split! Aquarium research tech? I don`t think so.

 

[rhdoug]

they may not split but they do regenerate broken arms.