Uhhh... what the heck is this thing on my glass???

[Webmanny]

Hey guys,

I just saw this thing on the from glass of my reef tank. Any idea what this is and should I take it out? It obviously looks like a star, but what kind?

 

[chris.scang]

Asterina starfish

 

[cnreef]

Asterina starfish

Boo, Chris beat me to it by a few seconds

 

[Rawrsean]

It's an Asternia Starfish! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterina_(starfish)


There are many different species that look similar, and as far as I know, there isn't any way to determine good from bad. If it's a reef tank, I'd remove it, just in case!

 

[janes_mw]

asterina starfish. Personally I don't mind, but there are folks that try to get rid of.

 

[Webmanny]

This is great information. I'll take this sucker out, just in case. I knew you guys would not let me down. As always, a million thanks.

 

[Electus unus]

Asterina star. Some species(usually the ones with darker patches) will munch on corals. They reproduce like crazy, but if you have a fowlr, they can be really good for stirring sand and eating what some fish may miss. A harlequin shrimp should itraticate them fairly quickly. When I had a pair, they were always hanging around with one in their claws. When you run out of asterinas, you'll need to feed the shrimp an arm from a chocolate chip starfish weekly or bi weekly, depending on your shrimp. Also, remember iodine with these shrimp. They need it, and even the smallest fluctuation could kill them :/ gorgeous shrimp though.

 

[Electus unus]

I started typing this with 0 replies on the board, lol. The interruptions of parenthood.

 

[Webmanny]

Lol. All good guys. I have removed it from the tank. I appreciate all your help.

 

[purpletang123]

Be watchout for more,if you saw one then there could be more.

 

[CuzzA]

Biodiversity, I'd leave it in the tank.

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

I just came across this one today. It seemed to have color to it in both types of lights?

He's on the side of the Acan...

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

He was kind of purple with an orange border to his body. He blended well with the Acan. Who knows, maybe he got the colors from eating them? Lol

 

[flchevygrl]

we got these as well. They seemed to like a brain coral we had on a rock...
Seemed like the brain was a star magnet...had 3 at one time on brain. I have recently removed 10 of them. When the count grew to eight I started removing...Tonight I seen one more. My lfs lady said if ya see 1 u have 10+.
I think the brain the starfsh are on is dead or dying...was on the live rock when we got it. fish store says it might come back...been in this stage for 3wks.

 

[flchevygrl]

found the 2 pics of ours...

 

[Electus unus]

The color is obtained from them eating it... You've got some nasties... Get rid of them

 

[Electus unus]

found the 2 pics of ours...

They kill that coral, or nah?

 

[Electus unus]

He was kind of purple with an orange border to his body. He blended well with the Acan. Who knows, maybe he got the colors from eating them? Lol

Get one or two harlequins. Problem solved

 

[Webmanny]

wow. see what we started? Now they are on everyone's tank. This is crazy. On a positive note, now we know to remove these things from our tanks as they can eat our corals.

I just don't understand how these things came to be in my tank. It feels like they just magically appeared.

As they said in Jurassic Park... "Life will find a way"

 

[CuzzA]

They are a very common hitchhiker. Most of the time they are reported to be harmless scavengers and occasionally you hear about the dark colored ones preying on coral. I have several in my tank and have never noticed any of them harming anything. Also they seem to be part of linckia sea stars diet.