They will absolutely eat the entire starfish if you give them enough time. My harlequin pretty much lives on top of the starfish until it is done eating it.I've been seeing some conflicting info. Some sites/people say that they only eat the tube feet, while others say they eat the entire star. I assume they must eat the entire star, otherwise they wouldn't be able to demolish Asterina populations right?
Also, are they particular to any species of sea star? I know chocolate chip stars are the most commonly used for feeding harlequin shrimp, but if I wanted to give it a varied diet, could i use other species (sand sifting star, Linckia, red reef stars, etc)?
What about wild stars? There are plenty of cold water stars where I live, like ochre stars, bat stars, and blood stars. Would Harlequin shrimp eat those as well?
Edit: I should note that I do not currently own a harlequin shrimp. I'm thinking about getting one but I would like to have a good idea of what I'm getting myself into before I buy one.