Biscuit Starfish

[Dburr1014]

I just stumbled upon This Thread. How's it going with your starfish? I just picked one up myself and they said it was West African starfish.

 

[WheatToast]

I just stumbled upon This Thread. How's it going with your starfish? I just picked one up myself and they said it was West African starfish.

I am pretty sure this is an Aussie biscuit starfish (possibly Anchitosia queenslandensis) given its more orange coloration and rounded arm tips, as opposed to a West African biscuit starfish (Goniaster tessellatus). They prefer colder temperatures than those in most reef tanks.
@AydenLincoln
@DeniableArc

 

[AydenLincoln]

I just stumbled upon This Thread. How's it going with your starfish? I just picked one up myself and they said it was West African starfish.

Unfortunately mine passed away after over a year and yes this is very different than mine. This is an orange Pentagonaster duebeni which is found in Australia and more of a temperate/coldwater species. https://bie.ala.org.au/species/http...afd/taxa/bb92a135-1d42-48f2-967e-59f1ca818576

 

[WheatToast]

Unfortunately mine passed away after over a year…

Wait, what happened? I am so sorry to hear.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Wait, what happened? I am so sorry to hear.

His spikes fell off and he kind of melted away so I pulled him out. I tried to dry him out and preserve him and then I accidentally broke him. They don’t live an extremely long time and who knows how old he was when I got him. I still consider the year and a few months I had him to be a success.

 

[Dburr1014]

Unfortunately mine passed away after over a year and yes this is very different than mine. This is an orange Pentagonaster duebeni which is found in Australia and more of a temperate/coldwater species. https://bie.ala.org.au/species/http...afd/taxa/bb92a135-1d42-48f2-967e-59f1ca818576

Sorry to hear about your biscuit.
I will do some reading up on it.
The guy had a whole bin of orange and red ones. He said they were all west Africans but the red were specifically from Ghana. He did insist they were all from the Atlantic.
If it is a colder water one it may not fair well. I keep the tank at 76.5\77.5 F.

Thanks for the info!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Sorry to hear about your biscuit.
I will do some reading up on it.
The guy had a whole bin of orange and red ones. He said they were all west Africans but the red were specifically from Ghana. He did insist they were all from the Atlantic.
If it is a colder water one it may not fair well. I keep the tank at 76.5\77.5 F.

Thanks for the info!

They do look like Pentagonaster duebeni species. They're actually endemic to Australia so it's very strange they'd get a shipment of them. I don't think they're endangered or threatened so I definitely guess a few may come in once in a while. We get them once in a while here. What's your feeding plan? You may need to try a few (or several foods) to hopefully sustain it for a period of time.

 

[EricR]

His spikes fell off and he kind of melted away so I pulled him out. I tried to dry him out and preserve him and then I accidentally broke him. They don’t live an extremely long time and who knows how old he was when I got him. I still consider the year and a few months I had him to be a success.

Bummer,,, sorry to hear that.
Have you actually had any reef-safe stars make it multiple years?
*I know I was watching some of your sea star threads at one point in the past but lost track

 

[Dburr1014]

They do look like Pentagonaster duebeni species. They're actually endemic to Australia so it's very strange they'd get a shipment of them. I don't think they're endangered or threatened so I definitely guess a few may come in once in a while. We get them once in a while here. What's your feeding plan? You may need to try a few (or several foods) to hopefully sustain it for a period of time.

I have seen him once since Saturday, that was last night. It was stuck to the wall, I tried feeding it but it was impossible. I tried mysis and my own diy frozen concoction. I'll try again if it's on a more level surface.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I have seen him once since Saturday, that was last night. It was stuck to the wall, I tried feeding it but it was impossible. I tried mysis and my own diy frozen concoction. I'll try again if it's on a more level surface.

Try an isolation box to test new foods...that might help. The success I had with the Fromia stars was due to trying different things and seeing what triggered a feeding response. Additionally, it may be very hungry (almost starving depending on how long it was going through the supply chain) and therefore simply slow in getting to the food. An isolation box will help avoid crabs you may have or fish from stealing the food.