Gorgonia with a ⭐️

[Kyan]

I just purchased this photosynthetic gorgonia at my lfs and I was stoke that it came with some sort of starfish! At lights out I came to check the tank and seen this mesmerizing creature in action! Probably it is filtering food.

 

[paragrouper]

I have no idea what that is, but it’s really cool looking.

 

[twentyleagues]

Basket starfish. Difficult animal to keep in an aquarium. They eat anything they can catch and they can get very big.

 

[Reefing102]

Yep. Looks like a basket starfish. As mentioned usually very difficult to keep

 

[Gumbies R Us]

That is one neat starfish!

 

[Nano_Man]

Never seen one before every day is a school day

 

[AydenLincoln]

A basket starfish which is a filter feeding carnivore and sadly nearly impossible to keep alive longterm in captivity! They are very cool though. They eat zooplankton and it must be dosed constantly since they are always feeding so much so it would pollute the aquarium. They are similar to crinoids and feather stars in terms of care and difficulty to keep.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I wouldn't assume you're going to go to where it's native to and try to return it to the wild (nobody would and honestly it's a bad idea even if you did try that). With that said, now that you're the proud owner of a basket star you should try feeding it a variety of different sized foods ranging from phytoplankton to zooplankton and do what you can to maintain it. It's not so likely you'll be able to maintain it long term but just do what you can like any of us would! They're very cool...maybe you can learn something new about their feeding!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Here's a link that may help but you'll have to try to ID it...

Global Diversity of Brittle Stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)

This review presents a comprehensive overview of the current status regarding the global diversity of the echinoderm class Ophiuroidea, focussing on taxonomy and distribution patterns, with brief introduction to their anatomy, biology, phylogeny, and palaeontological history. A glossary of terms...

journals.plos.org