sea star help?

[fish6488]

My daughter found this sea star at Cocoa Beach on the east coast of Florida. It seems healthy. We didn't have the heart to tell her to throw it back, so we brought it home and put it in our tank. But we don't know what to do with it now.

It is about 9 inches from toe to toe (are they called toes?) What kind is it and what does it eat and how do we feed it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[fish6488]

sea star picture

sea star picture

I think I attached the picture of it now.

 

[greenbean36191]

[welcome]
It appears to be Luidia clathrata, which is one of the many species often sold as a sand sifting sea star. They feed on the small animals that make a sandbed functional, so are a poor addition to a tank that relies on a sandbed for filtration. They are also voracious predators, so there is really no way to keep them without supplemental feeding. For many species, that's not really possible, but this species is known to feed on small clams, so it might be possible to offer then some clam meat.

Due to its diet, this species really isn't suited to captivity. This is a good reason not to collect or add unfamiliar animals to the tank.

 

[chrisstie]

I'd just like to add that if for some reason you decide that this is not the best inhabitant for your tank, please don't release it back into the ocean! It may or may not have picked up bacterias, parasites, etc that aren't indigenous to our local waters and one tiny starfish could harm a whole ecosystem if thats the case.

If your daughter likes it and you can keep it alive awesome, if not recommend to see if any LFS or local people would get it if you find it distressing your sandbed.

 

[fish6488]

thanks for the info. So far it seems to be getting along with everything in the tank. We got it some clams, but it didn't show any interest.