Is this a starfish?

[AjMoney09]

It only has three legs and two tiny ones so I don't think so, but one of my friends said it is!

Thanks in advance!

 

[S13<3]

i believe it is a asterina starfish, some say theyre harmless, i remove them on sight

 

[WienerDog]

+1 Asterina....harmless

 

[AjMoney09]

i believe it is a asterina starfish, some say theyre harmless, i remove them on sight

Thanks!!!

 

[AjMoney09]

+1 Asterina....harmless

Thanks!!!

 

[Sport507]

i believe it is a asterina starfish, some say theyre harmless, i remove them on sight

+1 best to remove them.

 

[DonRW2007]

Harmless...

 

[T-dub]

Everyone says harmless but I've caught them eating zoa's. I'd pull it to keep safe. Odds are also good that if you have one, you have a dozen.

 

[sponger0]

Yes that is an asterina starfish. Some have been known to munch on zoas. My tank is infested with them after being up for 6 months. But the up side to that is I have enough to feed a harlequin shrimp. But they started really mowing down on some coraline algae. So you can either remove them, watch them to make sure they dont eat zoas, or let them reproduce for awhile and get a harlequin later. I vote for the harlequin shrimp route

 

[horwitzs]

The arms are all different lengths because they multiply by dropping an arm which grows into a new star. They multiply like crazy, but as others have said, they are USUALLY harmless.

 

[Sk8r]

Depends on what you keep, and may depend on type of asterina. I find them harmless in an lps/sps reef with clams.

 

[crouch36]

I've heard so much conflicting info. on these little guys, but came to the conclusion that they seem to have individual tastes, some harmless/others harmful... The ones in my tank stick to my liverock and seem to only enjoy munching on my coraline, but they leave all my corals alone.

 

[tmulrney]

I would definitely remove them

 

[fishchef]

They are nocturnal. In the morning I see more than I can count. My tank has no zoas, but a nice colony of palys. Haven't noticed any harm.

 

[Dr. Reef]

mostly harmless

 

[calbert0]

I've heard bad things about them, but have never had a bad experience myself. Their populations seem to come and go in my tank. All over the place for a while, then they disappear.

 

[Dustin1300]

Mostly harmless. I had a population explosion of them for a short burst and they did not touch my LPS/SPS. I did not have zoas though and that's the biggest myth on what they eat. I believe someone on RC had a video of one chomping on his zoas

 

[EllieSuz]

I seldom see them on the rock and never amidst any corals. In the morning they're all over the glass. I like them.

 

[apuhl20]

take them out. they will eat your coral