6 legged starfish

[otisbooard]

just found this 6 legged starfish in the tank

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[exnisstech]

I see that often in astrina stars

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Aquilonastra starfish (known in the hobby as "Asterina") - some species are fine/helpful, others have been known (at least when in large numbers) to go after corals (almost always zoas).

As a general rule, if the top of the starfish is primarily black, or if it has red/orangish spots on it (like the star in the link below), then it may be harmful:

Evidence of (some) "asterina" / aquilonastra stars eating (some) zoanthids

I had NO CLUE, but figured a few dozen stars would feed a shrimp…guess I was wrong.. added: that’s what I get for inadequate research before purchase I can’t afford $20/week to feed a pair of shrimp, looks like I need to find a tide pool somewhere… thank you...

www.reef2reef.com