Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - small starfish on glass, good bad or just ugly :)?

rshimek · 10/05/2001, 05:50 AM

Hi,

They reproduce by fission, basically they simply pull themselves apart, so each population is a clonal array.

Lotsa things go into critically identifying a starfish, folks. Basic body shape and structure certainly are a first step, but..... To get to the species level, one has to look at other much smaller characters: tube feet arrangements, ossicle shapes and distributions, presence or absence of pedicellariae, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

Bottom line, there is no way an average hobbyist is going to identify or probably discriminate between the species in this group of stars. There appears to be at least one species (from reports by Bill Capman, among others), that is predatory. However, this particular star seems to be relatively uncommon. A similar species appears to most feeding on detritus and algal films and that particular star is relatively common.

So... watch them, and if they become a problem or if you become paranoid, go on a star safari to remove them. Otherwise, enjoy the diversity they provide.

10/05/2001, 05:50 AM	#13
rshimek Moved On Join Date: Oct 1999 Posts: 24,538	Hi, They reproduce by fission, basically they simply pull themselves apart, so each population is a clonal array. Lotsa things go into critically identifying a starfish, folks. Basic body shape and structure certainly are a first step, but..... To get to the species level, one has to look at other much smaller characters: tube feet arrangements, ossicle shapes and distributions, presence or absence of pedicellariae, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Bottom line, there is no way an average hobbyist is going to identify or probably discriminate between the species in this group of stars. There appears to be at least one species (from reports by Bill Capman, among others), that is predatory. However, this particular star seems to be relatively uncommon. A similar species appears to most feeding on detritus and algal films and that particular star is relatively common. So... watch them, and if they become a problem or if you become paranoid, go on a star safari to remove them. Otherwise, enjoy the diversity they provide.