Small star ID - Asterina?

[Reefmack]

Not the greatest picture as I was involved with other things at the time, but I saw this star on my rock a few weeks ago, that I hadn't seen before. It may have come in as a hitchhiker on some new zoa rocks that I added. The view is from the side, so not easy to see it well - mottled brown/tan color - maybe a bit less than 1/2 inch across. I haven't seen it since. Is it a type of Asterina or something else?

Thanks

 

[Steve973]

Yes, my vote is that it's an asterina. I've had these in my tank for years, and I like them quite a bit. Some people perpetuate rumors that these can be coral predators, but they are scavengers, so if they are on your corals, they are removing dead tissue. For me, they've been harmless.

 

[Reefmack]

Thanks Steve973. I did some searching and found there are different colors of Asterina species. I haven't seen this one again, but I also haven't seen it near any corals, so that's a good sign. I'll just consider it a nice hitchhiker to have, unless I catch it actually damaging any any live tissue on a coral.