Question reguarding my newest hitchhiker

[soulbereaver]

Ok, so today I woke to find a small brittle starfish (or serpent starfish or something in that starfish family) in my newly set up 75gal. Must have hitchhiked on the live rock.

This little guy is only about the size of a silver dollar with all it's legs extended, maybe a bit smaller. My question is how friendly are these creatures, and how big should I expect this guy to get? What should I be on the lookout for?


Thanks in advance

[atwinparadox2]

Totally safe hitchhiker! And a good one!

[crvz]

assuming it's full size (and it probably is), no worries. if it grows rather large (as in, 8"+), I've heard some of them will go after fish, but you're a long way from worrying about that.

[singold]

Minature Brittlestar probably. They are good scavengers.

[singold]

Also, the only Brittlestar known to be a fish killer is the Green Brittlestar. It is lime green in coloration so it is easy to identify. Most brittlestars are harmless and great scavengers. I was moving a piece of Live Rock other day and noticed a minature brittlestar that came in as hitchhiker. I was happy to see it. Free scavenger cleaner of tank. :)