is my Blue Linkia expelling its insides? (pic included)
- Thread starter Draven
- Start date
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Is it possible its dividing?
silversnake
New member
it is doomed
wife no likey
New member
Ours did that about two months ago. It then went into hiding for awhile, but is out and about now 
He was really delflated for awhile, and I thought for sure it was a goner.
Pete
He was really delflated for awhile, and I thought for sure it was a goner.
Pete
neuroslicer
Old School Reefer
sea stars (please let's not call them starfish... they can't swim and don't have gills) can eat by everting their stomach out of their oral opening... that's how it consumes an oyster, for example... it surrounds the oyster with its arms, waits for it to crack open just a bit... and the slips its stomach inside the oyster and starts secreting digestive juices... yummy....
that might be what you saw... how is it now?
that might be what you saw... how is it now?
wife no likey
New member
It's not the stomach; I think it may have been it's gonads or something along those lines 
Monkey_Bone
New member
Linkas are temperate water animals and not reef dwellers by nature.
Your gonna see it do all kinds of funky stuf because a reef is not its natural "full time" enviorment ( eventualy including it melting away to its death, which is what I believe yours is in the process of doing. Those are rows of its "suction cups" not its stomache)
Ideal water temps for linka's are from as cold as 68 deg F. to 76 deg. F.
Thats why they dont do well in reefs.
I dont think they should even be sold labeled "reef safe" personaly.
Because they may not harm the reef but the temperatures of our captive reefs will harm them in the long run.
Your gonna see it do all kinds of funky stuf because a reef is not its natural "full time" enviorment ( eventualy including it melting away to its death, which is what I believe yours is in the process of doing. Those are rows of its "suction cups" not its stomache)
Ideal water temps for linka's are from as cold as 68 deg F. to 76 deg. F.
Thats why they dont do well in reefs.
I dont think they should even be sold labeled "reef safe" personaly.
Because they may not harm the reef but the temperatures of our captive reefs will harm them in the long run.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
First it would be nice if the thread starter would check back, and let us know whats happening with it. As far as I can tell draven hasnt been here since April.
Not sure what your reference is monkey bone, in Ron Shimeks Marine Invertebrates he makes no mention of this as a temperate species, and does go on to say that the blue linkia is " one of the few that may persist in reef aquariums". He also states that it reproduces asexually when one arm or ray pulls itself away from the central disc and walks away; the disc heals and grows a new ray, while the ray grows a new body and arms. I think this is what may be happening here, but have no way of knowing until draven lets us know.
Not sure what your reference is monkey bone, in Ron Shimeks Marine Invertebrates he makes no mention of this as a temperate species, and does go on to say that the blue linkia is " one of the few that may persist in reef aquariums". He also states that it reproduces asexually when one arm or ray pulls itself away from the central disc and walks away; the disc heals and grows a new ray, while the ray grows a new body and arms. I think this is what may be happening here, but have no way of knowing until draven lets us know.
cristhiam
New member
Re: is my Blue Linkia expelling its insides? (pic included)
did it survived? after over a year I think mine it's looking like this. I think it's dying<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6955128#post6955128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Draven
Something tells me my linkia no longer wants to be a team player.........
supernareg
New member
linkia usually die in the home aquarium due to starvation (u cant feed them directly and no one knows what they eat) unless ur tank is a super mature 150+ gallon.
I feed my Linckia couple of times. I just put a small piece of shrimp under its disc. After more than 6 months, I still can’t figure out the frequent of feeding, I feed it every month but sometimes it didn’t want to eat for 2 months.
I captured feeding moment of my Linckia (sorry for the low quality images
)
I captured feeding moment of my Linckia (sorry for the low quality images
)
In this case, it's probably not a food issue; sea stars are extremely sensitive creatures, especially where temperature, salinity or pH shifts are involved. Any slight change can sometimes disrupt their immune function dramatically. Temperature rises can be particularly difficult to handle. As they lack a specific immune system, they instead have a chemical-based system, and many of the active enzymes are heat sensitive. A rise of only a few degrees can cause sever difficulty in fighting infections, often caused by Vibrio species and their kin. Treating the seastar in a bath of tetracycline, or oxytetracycline has reversed the necrosis, but once you have tube feet coming out of the ambulacral groove, it's pretty far gone. Hope this helps, good luck!
I agree. I've seen a blue linkia feeding this way on a limpet. It kinda looked like a somewhat transparent beige balloon looking thing. I thought it was dying, and went to remove it. It promptly retracted it's stomach back into itself. Then I saw the limpet.
Oh, and they are not temperate. They are tropical. I saw them on PBS or Discovery...lots of them, in shallow, muddy, alge covered flats.
I think people don't feed theirs enough, thinking it eats detritus only.
