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platypus writes:
...I bought this guy from the LFS, and am not sure what it is?
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Really very difficult to tell from the quality of the photograph, but I can throw out a few guesses. Based on the tapering rays and the appearance of being dorso-ventrally flattened, it is prolly either one of the Fromia or Neoferdina genus of
sea stars. There are about 10 to 12 different species of these sea stars, depending on who's text (Ruppert and Barnes) you check with, but this most closely resembles the F. indica in its ratio of ray taper and general appearance, although it could still be some of the closely related Pentagonaster or Ferdina genus, and may even be a color variant of a Celerina
sea star, specifically C. heffernani, which is very similar to some of the Fromia spp. It is reef safe, and omnivorous, and may/will consume small bivalves in your system. I would be wary of keeping one of these with a clam, although I do not know of instances where they have actually been observed consuming clams. For the most part, they are detrivores, consuming bacterial detritus and algal matter off the live rock and substrates of the aquaria. Insofar as I know, they do not require target feeding, and will consume uneaten foods and other materials found in the aquaria, but will require a fairly large amount of live rock in a fairly large aquarium (read this as greater than 100 gal US) to survive.
Introducing them to the aquaria requires a long adjustment period, especially for salinity, and if they have not been handled correctly during shipping, they will succumb to necrotic bacterial infections as a result of ruptures occurring in their ambulacral system (hydraulic locomotion system.) I have another post here somewhere re: Linckia levegata and acclimatizing them to the home aquaria, the same rules in that thread apply to this genus. It will also be an absolute that you keep your salinity at or very near 35ppt (1.026 SG) and
ROCK STEADY for this group of creatures, as the daily swings from once a day top off water additions are enough to spell disaster for many specimens of this family. I would suggest some type of auto top off system if you intend to keep them.
I can't think of much else to tell you about them, I hope this helps, they are usually long lived if they survive the initial introduction to the home aquarium.
