Starfish hitchhiker help

[Danthefishman]

Hey everyone. I found this little starfish on my frag plug. is it safe or not? Thank you.

 

[KrisReef]

Asterina starfish. Sometimes they multiply into a plague, othertimes they just survive eating algae, while some are reported to eat corals?

 

[ReeferHD]

Aquilonastra sea star.

Aquilonastra starfish (known in the hobby as "Asterina") - some species are fine/helpful, others have been known (at least when in large numbers) to go after corals (almost always zoas).

As a general rule, if the top of the starfish is primarily black, or if it has red/orangish spots on it (like the star in the link below), then it may be harmful:

Evidence of (some) "asterina" / aquilonastra stars eating (some) zoanthids

I had NO CLUE, but figured a few dozen stars would feed a shrimp…guess I was wrong.. added: that’s what I get for inadequate research before purchase I can’t afford $20/week to feed a pair of shrimp, looks like I need to find a tide pool somewhere… thank you...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Danthefishman]

Aquilonastra sea star.

Thank you. It's not black. and it doesn't have red or orange spots. It's a bluish color. Do you think this one's safe?

 

[Danthefishman]

Asterina starfish. Sometimes they multiply into a plague, othertimes they just survive eating algae, while some are reported to eat corals?

Thanks.

 

[ReeferHD]

Aquilonastra sea star.

Thank you. It's not black. and it doesn't have red or orange spots. It's a bluish color. Do you think this one's safe?

I have a bunch in my tank and personally I don’t remove them cause I’ve never seen them bother anything except zoas (which I don’t have) but your experience may be different.

 

[Danthefishman]

I have a bunch in my tank and personally I don’t remove them cause I’ve never seen them bother anything except zoas (which I don’t have) but your experience may be different.

I do have 2 little zoa frags lol. I talked to the lfs I got the corals at and he said they're safe.

 

[exnisstech]

I used to not mind them but since I witnessed them killing zoas and eating flesh off an acro I treat them all as pest and remove. There isn't enough benefit from them to even be worth keeping IMO