Sea Star Behavior

[RonD]

We have two sea stars in our tank. They have been in there for months and have crossed paths and climbed over each other etc.. in the past week or so they have been laying on top of one another.. mating????. They still move and do separate for a little while and then dog pile on one another again. Any ideas

 

[bertoni]

Might be mating, maybe not. Do you know the species? I wouldn't worry in any case.

 

[RonD]

They are sand sifting sea stars.

http://www.skyshed.btinternet.co.uk/Star1.JPG

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, hard to say. I see starfish pile up all the time on the coast here. I would guess it's related to that type of behavior, not mating.

 

[RonD]

Kind of odd behavior... easy if your the star on top though