Ever heard of the pink Linckia??

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hey guys, so for whatever reason one shop has been getting some unusually large shipments of both fish and inverts and some of the inverts are pretty amazing...I saw both of these starfish he got and wanted to share with you guys. They both appear to be Linckia genus, however I'm not certain about the species. Perhaps the pink one is albino? I've never heard of that but I've never heard of a pink Linckia either. The others are likely young Linckia guildingi species but again, I haven't seen this amazing pattern on them. I think the pattern may only be present on young Stars of the species and fade as they mature.

 

[Gman83]

I think the bottom one may be a leopard linckia. Seahorse save has them Here. I feel like that looks like the bottom pic. I've seen pink ones for sale on their site too, but they dont have any at the moment.

That is awesome how big that pink one is.

 

[Gman83]

I meant seahorsesavy...darn autocorrect

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Linckia genus starfish actually have a lot of color variations depending on location it seems...I've seen yellow ones in the wild as well

 

[Kasrift]

Hey guys, so for whatever reason one shop has been getting some unusually large shipments of both fish and inverts and some of the inverts are pretty amazing...I saw both of these starfish he got and wanted to share with you guys. They both appear to be Linckia genus, however I'm not certain about the species. Perhaps the pink one is albino? I've never heard of that but I've never heard of a pink Linckia either. The others are likely young Linckia guildingi species but again, I haven't seen this amazing pattern on them. I think the pattern may only be present on young Stars of the species and fade as they mature.

First one looks pretty suspicious like AI fingers gone wrong...

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

First one looks pretty suspicious like AI fingers gone wrong...

Haha, I had that same thought, but it's legitimate. The pink one might be Linckia guildingi: I've only been able to find a couple of pics so far that are similar though (the closer looking one is from Thailand, the less similar looking one is from Brazil):

Linckia guildingi - Common comet star | Snorkeling Report

www.snorkeling-report.com

Linckia guildingi from Brazil

from Guarapari, Espirito Santo state, Brazil. Find more pictures on www.medslugs.de/E/Photographers/Peter_Wirtz.htm#photos.

www.marinespecies.org

The other starfish is a Nardoa sp., probably N. tuberculata.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I'm pretty sure the pink Linckia are a morph of the normal Laevigata, as they've been seen in-situ within feet of each other. Albinism could be a possibility for sure...

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Here's a picture of a yellow Linckia I took diving...

 

[Kasrift]

Here's a picture of a yellow Linckia I took diving...

That's Gumby.

 

[dyno]

Super cool, I love starfish! I have had good luck with the bright orange and purple Linckia but never the blue. I wonder if the pink are hardy.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Super cool, I love starfish! I have had good luck with the bright orange and purple Linckia but never the blue. I wonder if the pink are hardy.

How many times have you attempted to keep the blues? I'm not encouraging another attempt if you've had bad luck with them but I feel like the different color morphs probably are very similar internally and the color really indicates very little...kinda like the color of people's eyes. I'd expect the blues would do ok with you as well which is why I asked how many times your attempted to keep them.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'm pretty sure the pink Linckia are a morph of the normal Laevigata, as they've been seen in-situ within feet of each other. Albinism could be a possibility for sure...

Yeah, some sort of color morph of another Linckia sp. is definitely possible.

 

[dyno]

How many times have you attempted to keep the blues? I'm not encouraging another attempt if you've had bad luck with them but I feel like the different color morphs probably are very similar internally and the color really indicates very little...kinda like the color of people's eyes. I'd expect the blues would do ok with you as well which is why I asked how many times your attempted to keep them.

Twice so far, they get some type of infection and one of their arms starts to turn white and rot. I agree with you that color has very little to do with it but blue linckia are most common world wide and I figured its about collection and shipping. Maybe the other color morphs are found in locations with better collection and shipping practices. I’ve kept other color morphs over two years now.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Twice so far, they get some type of infection and one of their arms starts to turn white and rot. I agree with you that color has very little to do with it but blue linckia are most common world wide and I figured its about collection and shipping. Maybe the other color morphs are found in locations with better collection and shipping practices. I’ve kept other color morphs over two years now.

That's definitely possible...they're probably handled more roughly while going through the supply chain due to abundance or might be collected earlier than needed and just thrown in a tank since the exporter knows they'll be ordered eventually. Did you know blue linckias account for 3% of all marine invertebrates collected from the wild?

 

[dyno]

That's definitely possible...they're probably handled more roughly while going through the supply chain due to abundance or might be collected earlier than needed and just thrown in a tank since the exporter knows they'll be ordered eventually. Did you know blue linckias account for 3% of all marine invertebrates collected from the wild?

I did not know that! But I am happy to run into a fellow reefer that loves starfish! What starfish species have you had luck with? Obviously chocolate chip and african red are usually easy to feed and care fore. In my experience Nardoa are not too difficult as well or the Echinaster echinophorus species I pictured in my first post. What have you had luck with?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I did not know that! But I am happy to run into a fellow reefer that loves starfish! What starfish species have you had luck with? Obviously chocolate chip and african red are usually easy to feed and care fore. In my experience Nardoa are not too difficult as well or the Echinaster echinophorus species I pictured in my first post. What have you had luck with?

Fromia indica starfish...o conducted an independent study on them because everyone said it was simply impossible to keep them for over 6-8 months before they starve to death. I didn't believe that it was impossible and ended up with them living far past that age one was at least a year and a half ol, I believe older and the other 2 over a year. Unfortunately, I was on a trip for a week or two and the guy I had tank sitting for me somehow managed to forget to feed the tank or something I assume so after a couple fish died and the tank was full of ammonia (it was actually only a 20 gallon), I got back and was pretty bummed to see everything dead. Sure I was successful in having them all far exceed anyone's expectations but I was pretty sad about that.

 

[dyno]

Fromia indica starfish...o conducted an independent study on them because everyone said it was simply impossible to keep them for over 6-8 months before they starve to death. I didn't believe that it was impossible and ended up with them living far past that age one was at least a year and a half ol, I believe older and the other 2 over a year. Unfortunately, I was on a trip for a week or two and the guy I had tank sitting for me somehow managed to forget to feed the tank or something I assume so after a couple fish died and the tank was full of ammonia (it was actually only a 20 gallon), I got back and was pretty bummed to see everything dead. Sure I was successful in having them all far exceed anyone's expectations but I was pretty sad about that.

Sorry to hear. Never tried fromia, in lfs they already look very weak. Never see super healthy fromia available here in California.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I totally agree with the overstock theory with blue linckias. Due to being so popular, the collectors over-collect for shipping later. However they also seem to be physically different from the reds, which are actually more likely to me fromia of some description.
I have personally kept a red linckia for over six months before a crash, and now I've kept Linckia multiflora for 6+ months and it has grown and fattened in my system. I just added another two multiflora from the same source with hopes to aquaculture them at some point.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I totally agree with the overstock theory with blue linckias. Due to being so popular, the collectors over-collect for shipping later. However they also seem to be physically different from the reds, which are actually more likely to me fromia of some description.
I have personally kept a red linckia for over six months before a crash, and now I've kept Linckia multiflora for 6+ months and it has grown and fattened in my system. I just added another two multiflora from the same source with hopes to aquaculture them at some point.

I believe Linckia multiflora have different dietary requirements. Also, if I'm not mistaken, they can reproduce by fission (being cut in half essentially). Easy aquaculture job for you haha

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I believe Linckia multiflora have different dietary requirements. Also, if I'm not mistaken, they can reproduce by fission (being cut in half essentially). Easy aquaculture job for you haha

Multiflora seem to be starfish & tunicate eaters in my experience, mine eat 3-5 asterinas per day and I've seen them parked on some colonial tunicates that have made their way into my tanks. All of them are regrowing limbs from fissions before I bought them, so I'm hopeful they'll continue to propagate in my own system.