Didn't think starfish could be out of water?

[NinnJinn]

Picked up "Patrick" yesterday afternoon. This morning he was waving at me and since I do not have any fish in the tank yet I pinched off a little piece of reef Frenzy thawed it out and started putting it on his leg that was sticking out of the water waving at me. He started moving it towards his mouth and then started moving further up the glass. Now he's only got two of his legs suction cup to the glass and the rest of his body is bent over above the water continuously moving the food towards his mouth.

I was under the impression that they could not be out of the water? Is he trying to commit suicide?

 

[rich nyc]

Nice looking guy.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Nah. They can be exposed to air. The whole "starfish can't ever be out of the water" bit is a hobby myth.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Check out this thread (in particular the video on page 2): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/true-or-false-if-a-starfish-is-exposed-to-air-it-will-die.88876

 

[Zos4me]

mine does that constantly. I give him some jumbo Krill .He will go up against the glass to trap it and starts to eat

 

[TurboSnail72]

Yours looks like a chocolate chip star, they’re very hardy as far as starfish go and often like to come right up to the surface. I believe that the no air rule applies to more delicate varieties such as Linckia which are found deeper on reefs and not in the intertidal

 

[DSC reef]

Nah. They can be exposed to air. The whole "starfish can't ever be out of the water" bit is a hobby myth.

+1, our linkia would do that a lot. The chorale chip would do that as well until our harlequin would pull it back down

 

[cristata.reef]

A lot of sea stars are intertidal (or at least littoral) meaning they are used to being left on dry land when the tide recedes. our ochre stars (Pisaster ochraceus) and many other species of sea stars along our coast can stay out of water for about 12-14 hours at a time since they create an airtight seal around their tube feet and trap water within