green brittle star question

[homer66]

My green brittle star lost a leg night before last. I didn"t take it out of the tank because it was still moving and I don't really know what's going on. Tonight it's still moving and I have no idea if this is a normal event. The leg and the star both seem to be fine. Any ideas?

[Cope]

The leg will die. It needs a mouth to eat. The leg will remain mobile until it dies.

I believe in a lab environment it could be saved, but in a tank I think it will die.

[homer66]

Thanks Cope
I still don't know what caused the leg to come off but it's still kicking after 5 days. Water quality is good. The leg reacts good to food, but like you said it has no mouth. I guess i'll just leave it alone til it quits moving and see what happens.

[rssjsb]

Does the leg have any of the disc attached to it?

[homer66]

rssjsb
If there is any disk attached it is very small

[greenbean36191]

Whether there is any disk attached or not is immaterial. Single ophiuroid legs never regrow full stars, even under the best conditions. In most cases no chunk with less than 3 legs will survive.

[landragon]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12461312#post12461312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Whether there is any disk attached or not is immaterial. Single ophiuroid legs never regrow full stars, even under the best conditions. In most cases no chunk with less than 3 legs will survive.
does this only apply to brittle stars? I work at a store and for the last six months there has been a single multicolor linkia leg cruising one tank. I've looked closely, but have never seen a mouth, even under magnification. After forgeting about for a few weeks, I saw it yesterday with four new legs. From all observation, it has grown from a single leg.

[greenbean36191]

Yes, ophiuroids= brittle/serpent stars. True sea stars like Linckia are different. Some of them, including Linckia can reproduce from just fragments of a leg called comets. It sounds like what's happening in your store.

[homer66]

Thanks greenbean
I'll be removing the leg in the morning