brittle star question????

[mario4254]

ok here it goes ......... today after feeding some sinking pellets i saw something like a worm emerge from inside the rock work /
but upon closer inspection it looked like an are on a black brittle star arm ( i do have one in my tank its always stays hidden only extends few arms during feeding or just ocasionaly so there is no way of knowing if its one of its arms) its little over inch long .....what has me puzzled it moved on its own when it found the pellet it started it pass it on its tinny feet just like the brittle star would towards its center disk well there is no center disk at the end of that arm so when the pallet got to the end the arm seem to be confused started to move in snake like fasion after few minutes i had to go away from the tank so i m not sure what happen later.........so my question is can brittle stars arms move on their own? if it was attacked by shrimp( i have a coral banded and a fire shrimp i never observed them fight they all been together in the tank for 14 months or so) or can thay just let one of thier arms go ? im 99% positive its not a worm thanks for any info

 

[ReefStuff]

We have a arm from a brittle star that broke one off during shipment in our store. It has been with us for 6 months, and is still thriving. I swear it has even grown some.

I'm no expert on the reproduction of starfish though, but other genus of stars actually propagate this way.


Ricky Soutas Jr.
-Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.-
www.ReefStuff.com

 

[ginger7286]

Sounds very cool!!!! Science Fiction you know. These creatures that can regrow parts are fasinating. Keep us informed as to what is going on.

 

[mario4254]

i will try to sink some pallets in the same area my next feeding to see if the arm will come out again!

 

[greenbean36191]

Brittle and serpent stars will never regrow from just an arm. As a general rule they need a fragment with at least 3 arms to have any chance of success.

The individual arms can last quite some time before they run out of reserves though. Usually in captivity the stars are poorly fed, so the arms only last a month or so, but arms from a well fed star could potentially last close to a year.

 

[mario4254]

the arm reapared after tonites feeding still hunting for food pallets

 

[jb61264]

Why wouldn't it be safe to assume that you just have hitchhiker brittle stars in your live rock?...I have lots of little brittle stars that came in the live rock I got from Tampa Bay Saltwater a year ago and they extend from their arms from the live rock all the time when I feed the tank

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

I have a few of those "arms" myself! One is ina rock the other is buried in a ridge coral colony! Never seen teh disk, just 2 frilly arms!

 

[mario4254]

i also have many white stars but they are small this is defintly not part of them irs black and much larger than any of them and its crawling on the sand i can see the begening and the end of the arm so i know the rest of it its not hideing anywhere