Friend or foe?

[OceanMinded]

I’ve been seeing these guys all over my tank now. I keep losing zoa polyps but I’m thinking that could be from something else. Probably an easy ID

 

[vetteguy53081]

Asterina starfish and get rid of them. They multiply like mice and are capable of taking down a colony of zoa

 

[Pistondog]

I’ve been seeing these guys all over my tank now. I keep losing zoa polyps but I’m thinking that could be from something else. Probably an easy ID

Looks like asterina starfish. Usually harmless, but can get numerous. In my tank they ate corailine algea. Anecdotes say dark or striped varieties can hurt zoas.
If you have a lot , you can get a harlequin Shrimp, but he only eats startfish.

 

[NeSsyAqua]

Looks like baby ninja star snails, can u take one out and see if it's a snail or starfish? If it is a type of starfish then +1 on asterina.

 

[Pistondog]

Looks like baby ninja star snails, can u take one out and see if it's a snail or starfish? If it is a type of starfish then +1 on asterina.

Tough to tell from the pic, but if its a shell vs starfish, then ninja.
It does have a lot of arms for asterinas.

 

[lilkiwi930]

If its the starfish I'm thinking of foe!!! Eats the crap out of the corals. I had the same problem. I went to my tank every night and took them out hand by hand. Then I bought two harlequinn shrimps to eat the ones I could not get to.

 

[OceanMinded]

Hi. Thanks for the reply’s. Apologies for leaving out some crucial info. IT IS a snail. I’ve dealt with asterina’s before. This little guy is one of many and I noticed them a month or so back. I probably have a handful this big and the rest are smaller.

 

[Gernader]

Hi. Thanks for the reply’s. Apologies for leaving out some crucial info. IT IS a snail. I’ve dealt with asterina’s before. This little guy is one of many and I noticed them a month or so back. I probably have a handful this big and the rest are smaller.

Good news, that is a ninja snail

 

[NeSsyAqua]

Hi. Thanks for the reply’s. Apologies for leaving out some crucial info. IT IS a snail. I’ve dealt with asterina’s before. This little guy is one of many and I noticed them a month or so back. I probably have a handful this big and the rest are smaller.

Yep most likely a ninja star snail, do u have ninja star snails in your tank? If so there is a high chance they have spawned that's why u have many of them. If not then it most likely hitchhiked from a coral or rock.

 

[KJ]

I’ve been seeing these guys all over my tank now. I keep losing zoa polyps but I’m thinking that could be from something else. Probably an easy ID

Astralium phoebium. Ninja star snail.