Serpent stars are thieves!

[hdtran]

Decided to feed the anemones from TBS (one Condylactis, one Epicystis). Cut up a piece of raw shrimp (about 1 cc), and successfuly fed the Condylactis, which is nestled fairly high in a cranny in rock. (That's an amazing sight, by the way--you stroke the food gently across a tentacle, and suddenly, the food seems to stick to the tentacle--from a nematocyst, I'm sure. You let go of the shrimp, and the anemone draws the shrimp into its mouth. 10 seconds later, it's gone!).

So my wife said we had to videotape me feeding the Epicystis, which is on the substrate. Stroked another piece of shrimp on a tentacle, tentacle stuck to shrimp, great. All of a sudden, ALL the serpent stars from the 2nd half shipment come rushing out of the rock towards the anemone. One gets there, and wraps an arm around the shrimp, pulls on it until the shrimp comes loose, and proceeds to inhale the shrimp through its mouth! Needless to say, I had to feed the other two serpent stars before I could feed the other anemone. And while I was feeding it, the first one came out again (despite a very distended belly!) to try to steal the food.

Our epicystis, by the way, appears to be a much slower feeder than the condylactis. (Either that, or it's been munching on snails & hermits at night when I'm not looking, so it's full).

I should add that the serpent stars that Richard ships are monsters! The central body is larger than 1" diameter, and the tentacles are 4-5" long!

If I can figure out how to capture some frames, I'll post pictures of the serpent stars with their unintended food!

 

[PRC]

Ya, the serpent stars are definitely he bullies of the tank when it comes to feeding. I think they'd eat til they popped if you let them. None of mine have ever messed with either my Condy or my Epicystis though. The Condy hangs out high up in the rocks sort of out of the way of the stars but the Epicystis is right down on the bottom, though mine did nestle in amongst some rocks and is not actually in the sandbed, definitely in range of the marauding serpent stars. Those things can really move when they want to.
My epicystis eats a bit less than my condy, but not a whole lot less. They both get the equivalent of about one or two krill two to three times a week. They both eat surprisingly fast.