Striped Mini Brittle Starfish (Ophiactis spp.)

[hmello@bermexin]

Thought I would post this here for those of us that are relatively new to the hobby.
My tank is a 29 gallon Oceanic Bio Cube. It has been in operation since 07-Jan-07, so almost 6 months old.
I found this last night, first time I had ever seen him/her. From what I can find it is a Striped Mini Brittle Starfish (Ophiactis spp.) a detrivore and good addition to any CUC. He is abou thte size of a nickel from tip to tip. They reproduce in our systems both sexually and asexually (by fission). From what I can find I should expect many more of these to be in my system as seeing this one is an indicator of good system husbandry.
-jumping -cheers
TOO COOL!! I am excited. Amazing the things that you find even after this amount of time.

 

[NeveSSL]

Wow... thats really cool. Things like this make me wish I had bought "new" live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater or something.

Good find!

Brandon

 

[hmello@bermexin]

Not even TBS rock. Just pcs. I picked out a LFS's.

 

[NeveSSL]

Nice!

I got mine "used" from a guy... so I lost a little bit of life (mostly limpets) while my rock waited patiently in a rubbermaid storage container for me to get my tank up.

I did get a nice chiton, though... about 2" long and he stays visible 24/7 now.

Brandon