Asternina Starfish on Foxface

thewbell · Jul 18, 2016

Has anyone ever seen an asternina starfish on the side of any of their fish? I have seen one on the side of my foxface a few times but have not been able to get a picture. They don't appear to be hurting the fish (at least that I can see) and usually fall off if he takes off fast. Is this something to worry about? If so, I'll have to go pick up a Harlequin shrimp ahead of schedule since I was waiting for my population to get a little higher first.

Tahoe61 · Jul 18, 2016

Fox face is probably picking at the algae areas where the the Asterina are present. I can think of no other reason.

Very very strange though.

eklapp · Jul 18, 2016

I saw one on mine once. He slept on his side on the sand bed. I assumed that's where it saddled up.

thewbell · Jul 18, 2016

Mine tends to sleep back in the rocks so I figure that's where he is picking them up. It was pretty alarming to see the first time and I'm glad to know it is nothing to be worried about. Thank you for the help.