Mystery creature?!

SunReef_Victor · 11/02/2014, 08:05 PM

Put in a piece of live rock with my dead rock to help along the cycling of my new 30 gallon tank. An hour later I turn on the light and all the little white dots floating around I expected but I noticed this on the glass and it looks like a tiny starfish of some sort but had six arms?! Can Anyone tell me what it is?

apexkeeper · 11/02/2014, 08:17 PM

asterina starfish. Very common, they can have any number of legs. Harmless in my opinion.

slief · 11/02/2014, 08:23 PM

Looks like an asternia starfish. For they most part they are considered to be harmless and my even be beneficial as they are scavengers. Some have reported issues with them going after Zoa's and some SPS. I've had a recent outbreak with them and founds dozens up dozens of them in my display fuge. So far they have been harmless although I did pick a bunch out to thin the herd. I've read up on them and based on my reading, there may actually be a couple different species of them of which at least one variation may eat or damage certain coral. If you see them on the coral, remove the offender and keep an eye on them to make sure it was just a lost star. As a side note, Julian Sprung doesn't consider them reef safe. They tend to reproduce pretty fast and in a couple months, you might find dozens or more however, they typically come and go in cycles. They tend to vary in shape and can actually split into multiple starfish resulting in their odd shapes. A good method of eradicating them is with a Harlequin Shrimp. That said, Harlequins will eat any starfish so brittles and other popular reef star fish are fair game.

SunReef_Victor · 11/02/2014, 08:29 PM

Oh wow thanks guys! I think I'll let the little guy do his thing for a while. If the numbers get out of hand I'll try removing a few or maybe get a harlequin when my cycle is done!

11/02/2014, 08:23 PM	#3
slief RC Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 14,173	Looks like an asternia starfish. For they most part they are considered to be harmless and my even be beneficial as they are scavengers. Some have reported issues with them going after Zoa's and some SPS. I've had a recent outbreak with them and founds dozens up dozens of them in my display fuge. So far they have been harmless although I did pick a bunch out to thin the herd. I've read up on them and based on my reading, there may actually be a couple different species of them of which at least one variation may eat or damage certain coral. If you see them on the coral, remove the offender and keep an eye on them to make sure it was just a lost star. As a side note, Julian Sprung doesn't consider them reef safe. They tend to reproduce pretty fast and in a couple months, you might find dozens or more however, they typically come and go in cycles. They tend to vary in shape and can actually split into multiple starfish resulting in their odd shapes. A good method of eradicating them is with a Harlequin Shrimp. That said, Harlequins will eat any starfish so brittles and other popular reef star fish are fair game. __________________ Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476

11/02/2014, 08:17 PM	#2
apexkeeper Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Central, NJ Posts: 297	asterina starfish. Very common, they can have any number of legs. Harmless in my opinion.

11/02/2014, 08:29 PM	#4
SunReef_Victor Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 5	Oh wow thanks guys! I think I'll let the little guy do his thing for a while. If the numbers get out of hand I'll try removing a few or maybe get a harlequin when my cycle is done!