starfish ID _ Linckia or not???

[suta4242]

I'd like to hear from anyone who knows quite a bit about these inverts, who can confirm whether the star eating the asterina is actually L. multiflora

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1745175&highlight=linkia&page=2

thanks for your time!

 

[LeslieH]

The animal in the picture is blue like most laevigata but spotted like a multifora so that's a hard decision. There's some evidence that Linckia multifora & L. laevigata are actually the same species as they cannot be distinguished using genetic analysis. Rob Toonen wrote an excellent column on Linckia -
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2002/toonen.htm He doesn't mention the possibility of their eating other stars & the post you linked may be the first record of it.

 

[suta4242]

Thanks very much for your time Leslie. Maybe because of better transit times etc... there are a number of local reefers who have kept a blue Linckia for a couple of years. I had one for five, but in that time never saw it eat anything. So i assumed they might feed on bacterial films etc... and was intrigued when I saw this post.

That photo reminds me of an old one I saw in books years ago: a blue Linckia appeared to have its stomach everted over a dead guppy. But this photo was the only one I ever saw, until now, so I was very curious about the species.