Is this a starfish and is it bad?

[Goldstripe]

Good evening. My wife and I found this roaming on the rocks this evening and have no clue what it is. It looks like a starfish that is missing legs but I'm not sure about that. From underneatch it def looks like a star. Any ideas? The size of it is about 3/8" long, very small.

[Geoff]

yes, it is a starfish. it is some kind of Asterina spp. it could be good or bad. from the sounds of where and when you found it i would be inclined to believe it is the good algae eating kind. the bad kind tends to eat the flesh off of SPS corals, mainly Acroporas. as long as you do not have any SPS you prolly do not have anything to worry about. if you do than look to see where the starfish are. if they tend to congregate under the rocks that hold these corals than you might be in trouble and look for dead areas at the base of the corals.

most people have the algae eating good kind. they very seldom have equal length arms. they can reproduce quite rapidly, so you might have more than you think. if they cam become epidemic in some tanks.

G~

[Goldstripe]

Thank you for the response Geoff. I'll keep an eye out on my acros. I think, just to be safe, if I see one I'll probably remove him.

[tdwyatt]

fine fissiparous starfish

[AHBrit]

I say get it out of your tank quick
They reproduce by dropping legs
Epidemic is right. i saw a post once about a guy who was pulling 100's out of his tank everynight

It's Asterina

[Goldstripe]

thanks for the tips and ID's everyone. Have not seen any since the night I pulled him out. I'm keeping a look out though, if there in there they'll be gone!!

[Geoff]

do you plan on putting any other starfish in the tank? what size is the tank? if you do not want any other stars in the tank, you could let them go nuts and reproduce than get yourself a Harlequin shrimp and let it reach an equilibrium in the tank. i would only advise this if the tank is at least 75gallons to ensure enough stars for the shrimp.

G~

[Goldstripe]

Originally Posted by Geoff

do you plan on putting any other starfish in the tank? what size is the tank? if you do not want any other stars in the tank, you could let them go nuts and reproduce than get yourself a Harlequin shrimp and let it reach an equilibrium in the tank. i would only advise this if the tank is at least 75gallons to ensure enough stars for the shrimp.

G~

My current tank is only a 65 gallon and I have a large brittle and a linkia in there as well so the Harlequin is a no go unfortunately. I've got a 150 that's almost ready to go though