Star ID Needed

[ohioreef]

I bought a Christmas Tree Worm rock at my LFS today and it had a starfish hitchhiking on it. I have attached a photo below. I have never seen a star like this one. The tips of his arms are blue, about the same shade of blue as a blue linkia.

 

[masterswimmer]

Linckia Multiflora

 

[ohioreef]

Is that a "good" star to have or should I be cautious?

 

[masterswimmer]

One of the goodies, AND one of the easier Linckias to keep. The blues, reds and oranges are the tougher ones.

 

[masterswimmer]

FYI, here's mine:

After it 'fragged' itself:

As it's growing up:

 

[ohioreef]

Cool!!! Hopefully mine will do well, then!! Thanks for the info!!

 

[ohioreef]

What should I feed him? Does he need to be directly fed?

 

[ophiuroid]

They rarely take to spot feeding. A mature reef tank with at least 75lbs of LR should be more than adequate, IMO.

 

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7898909#post7898909 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ohioreefer
What should I feed him? Does he need to be directly fed?

That's what makes Linckia's as difficult to keep as they are. Their diet is, for the most part, unknown. They eat a film that grows on LR. There really isn't any way to feed them. Hopefully your tank is mature enough to support it. I'd say a MINIMUM of six months old, preferrably one year.

 

[ophiuroid]

I absolutely agree on the "maturity" age of the tank...6 months is absolute minimum, IMO.

 

[ohioreef]

Thanks for the info. My tank is over 2 years old and everything else in it is doing very well, so here's hoping that my little hitchhiker will as well.

 

[kmk2307]

masterswimmer, I think the star in your third pic isn't a Linckia clone but actually an Asterina.

 

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7904038#post7904038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kmk2307
masterswimmer, I think the star in your third pic isn't a Linckia clone but actually an Asterina.

I've got lots of asterina's as well. The lighting in that pic was 100% actinic. Under the daylights (or, heaven forbid, the flash :eek1: ), it's very obvious it is a Linckia.

swimmer

 

[ophiuroid]

I would have personally agreed that the last pic is of an Asterina, as those are highly variable, and there are definitely larger 5 armed Asterina around in the hobby. IMO, the body shape does not seem quite right for a Linckia. They have fat cylindrical arms that just kind of join up at the center, whereas Asterina have triangular somewhat flattened arms that merge together.

But it is semantic really...clearly you have both, and both are reproducing.