six legged brittle? star on my tank glass (smaller than U.S. dime)

[egdirbkram]

My tank has only been up since October and still just love it when new things just show up.
today i found this guy just crawling around on my glass:

Is this a brittle star? If so why 6 legs not 5? Would you think that it will ever pose a problem in my 55g reef tank. For reference a half a dozen friendly fish (sixline, 2 clowns, firefish, royalgramma, pajama), inverts, an anemone, some macro/micro, and a few small corals. Just getting started out here.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

My tank has only been up since October and still just love it when new things just show up.
today i found this guy just crawling around on my glass:

Is this a brittle star? If so why 6 legs not 5? Would you think that it will ever pose a problem in my 55g reef tank. For reference a half a dozen friendly fish (sixline, 2 clowns, firefish, royalgramma, pajama), an anemone, some macro/micro, and a few small corals. Just getting started out here.

It is a brittle star - sometimes they have 6 legs or 4 legs, but typically they have 5. Most brittle star species are harmless, so it shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[EricR]

Micro brittle star = Good. (I like that yours are light colored,,, mine are all darker)
Most I've seen have 6 legs.

 

[egdirbkram]

thank you both, i suspected all good in the hood

 

[egdirbkram]

i am surprised to see it up on the glass though. i would expect it to be stirring sand and in rock crevices.

 

[EricR]

i am surprised to see it up on the glass though. i would expect it to be stirring sand and in rock crevices.

Yeah... mine are always in the rocks,,, never seen any on the glass.

I do catch them spawning periodically -- for fun, here's a short video:

Micro Brittle Star Spawning

 

[vetteguy53081]

Reef safe and one of the few creatures welcomed in my tanks. I have seen 5,6 and 8 legs on them.

 

[egdirbkram]

Yeah... mine are always in the rocks,,, never seen any on the glass.

I do catch them spawning periodically -- for fun, here's a short video:

Micro Brittle Star Spawning

that is awesome, thanks for sharing!