Asterina or something else?

[Sharkattackmack]

I was sitting on the couch this morning watching some TV and when I looked at the tank I saw this massive starfish. Chat gpt says it's an asterina but I've never seen one this big or color pattern. Any ideas?

 

[The_Bro]

I have never saw an asterina that BIG! But it looks just like one

 

[Sharkattackmack]

I have never saw an asterina that BIG! But it looks just like one

That's what caught me off guard also. I've had some of the "normal" sized ones in there but nothing this big.

 

[fish_collector]

Looks like one, but yeah I've never seen one quite that large. I've had a few that were 3/4" in my tank but they usually split long before they get that big. Yours might be something to keep around if it doesn't seem to be harming anything. I started taking them out of my tank after they reached plague proportions, now there's just a few of them left.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

Looks like one, but yeah I've never seen one quite that large. I've had a few that were 3/4" in my tank but they usually split long before they get that big. Yours might be something to keep around if it doesn't seem to be harming anything. I started taking them out of my tank after they reached plague proportions, now there's just a few of them left.

I'm wonder if it's just a stan sifting one. Looks like a lot of the larger astrinas end up having more than 5 points. After looking on Google images it looks more like a sand sifter.

If that's the case it's definitely staying. Almost impossible to vacuum my sand with coral growth I have.

 

[fish_collector]

I'm wonder if it's just a stan sifting one. Looks like a lot of the larger astrinas end up having more than 5 points. After looking on Google images it looks more like a sand sifter.

If that's the case it's definitely staying. Almost impossible to vacuum my sand with coral growth I have.

Could be! Wonder where it came from if you just now saw it lol.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

Could be! Wonder where it came from if you just now saw it lol.

From the depths haha. I have a deeper sand bed in areas that id like. My pistol shrimp is to blame for that.