Is this a (slightly battered) starfish?

[mmbaba]

I spotted this little guy in my tank today.
It moves very slowly (snail pace or slower).
About 5-7mm width.
Color (under more whitish lights) is white / gray with some black and red / orange markings.
Never seen it before and certainly not intentionally introduced.
Tank is about 9 months old and last coral / frag was introduced about 3 months ago.
I always dip my frags in Iodine before introducing.

thoughts?

 

[Murica]

Asterina, considered a pest and can multiply VERY quickly to the point of complete infestation in some cases. Some report that certain genus’ eat certain corals. Plucking them out of your tank, harlequin shrimp, and for extreme measures hypo treatment can take care of them

 

[mmbaba]

Asterina, considered a pest and can multiply VERY quickly to the point of complete infestation in some cases. Some report that certain genus’ eat certain corals. Plucking them out of your tank, harlequin shrimp, and for extreme measures hypo treatment can take care of them

Thanks Murica!

 

[Pistondog]

Yes asterina, it'll take months to get to bad numbers, but remove by hand.
And really good pic.

 

[vetteguy53081]

These guys will take zoas down in a hurry not to mention the quick reproduction they can accomplish

 

[Tamberav]

I have a bunch but they never touch my zoas. They eat algae for me. I like em.

 

[MaxTremors]

A lot of people over exaggerating the threat these guys pose. For the most part, they’re harmless and are good detritivores/film algae eaters. There are a few species that will go after corals, this is not one of them (they are brown/dark grey). I have never, in my 20+ years in the hobby, seen them reach ‘plague’ proportions, I’ve seen them reach the point where a couple hundred were visible, but getting rid of the majority of them just took around a half hour of plucking them out. They won’t get anywhere close to that level if you don’t overfeed. It’s your tank, and if you want to err on the side of caution, by all means, take it out, but IMO they’re just part of the biodiversity that we buy live rock for.

 

[ectoaesthetics]

A lot of people over exaggerating the threat these guys pose. For the most part, they’re harmless and are good detritivores/film algae eaters. There are a few species that will go after corals, this is not one of them (they are brown/dark grey). I have never, in my 20+ years in the hobby, seen them reach ‘plague’ proportions, I’ve seen them reach the point where a couple hundred were visible, but getting rid of the majority of them just took around a half hour of plucking them out. They won’t get anywhere close to that level if you don’t overfeed. It’s your tank, and if you want to err on the side of caution, by all means, take it out, but IMO they’re just part of the biodiversity that we buy live rock for.

Yup. Been in the hobby since the mid 90s… almost every tank I’ve had has had them (although not my current tank). Never has one eat a coral, never had them reach plague proportions. There are several species. Most of the ones circling around in the hobby are harmless in my experience and the experience of most of the reefers I know personally. I have also never known anyone successful at getting the typical harlequin shrimps to eat them -bumble bee shrimp-on the other hand will. But it feels like a weird way to clear a tank of something that is cleaning up.

I know this is not a popular opinion. But I at least figured I would back the poster above who also has run into these guys for decades.

 

[mmbaba]

Thank you all, for you input - much appreciated.