Help with ID

[goody]

This "ball" appeared this morning. I'm wondering if it could be a dropped goniopora baby from a nearby colony, sponge, or maybe it's an oddly shaped asternia. It hasn't moved all day. Any thoughts?

 

[PolypPocket]

I’m so curious

 

[goody]

It was an asternia starfish. It was wrapped around a healthy zoa polyp.

 

[EnterName]

It was an asternia starfish. It was wrapped around a healthy zoa polyp.

It was probably trying to eat the zoa...

There are some Asterina and/or Aquilonastra species that eat zoanthids. Every time I see one I take it out of the tank immediately. Without a Harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta) it's probably impossible to get all of them, but if you keep the numbers low, they won't cause too much trouble.

 

[goody]

It was probably trying to eat the zoa...

There are some Asterina and/or Aquilonastra species that eat zoanthids. Every time I see one I take it out of the tank immediately. Without a Harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta) it's probably impossible to get all of them, but if you keep the numbers low, they won't cause too much trouble.

Yeah, I've been pulling them out of my tank the last couple of weeks.