Can a star fish re-grow a lost arm?

wuteva

New member
My hermit crabs chewed off one arm of my new sand sifting star...he seems to be living thru it, and I am curious if the arm might grow back?
 
Yes, most of the ones I know reproduce by splitting, so they have to regrow them. You might want to get rid of the problem tho.
 
Well, it may grow back, or it may not....

It takes a lot of energy.

Also note that most hermits don't attack without reason- often the star is dying. They lose arms due to stress. How long have you had it? How did you acclimate it? What are your water parameters? What is your specific gravity.

I would assume in fact the star is in trouble, and the hermits are taking advantage of this.

Sandsifter stars in general do not do well in our tanks. Even if it was healthy, its long term prognosis, IMO, is not a good one.
 
It is possible for a starfish to grow an arm back. I do not know if a sand sifter can though. I have a starfish that frequently sheds one of its arms. The arm grows back, and amazingly the severed arm grows a new starfish.:eek2:
 
Yes, that is probably a Linckia, and that is common (esp in a 450g reef :D ). But that animal does it as a matter of reproduction (not in sand sifters) and it happens when the animal has built up a certain energy store, or level of health.

Sand sifters, unfortunately (except in very large tanks without a lot of LR cover) do not tend to have access to a lot of food and so may not have the energy to regrow the arm :(
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8075210#post8075210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ophiuroid
Yes, that is probably a Linckia, and that is common (esp in a 450g reef :D ). But that animal does it as a matter of reproduction (not in sand sifters) and it happens when the animal has built up a certain energy store, or level of health.

Sand sifters, unfortunately (except in very large tanks without a lot of LR cover) do not tend to have access to a lot of food and so may not have the energy to regrow the arm :(

Bummer.
 
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