Starfish?

[Jamo7]

I tried to take a picture but it didn’t come out clear, but it looks like a starfish 5 “legs” white grey in color and moved along my glass. Less than the size of a penny. The thing is I have not added anything to my tank in months and never saw this little guy before. Sorry I can’t provide a picture but if I did you all would ask for a better picture. I guess I’m just curious if anyone else has had a starfish come out of nowhere?

 

[Dsnakes]

Short legs? Look up asterina starfish. They can be a pest and reproduce quick. Some are Zoa eaters.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Here's what I wrote up for this one.
Recommend killing it while you can. :-/
and, yeah, I'm still removing a few a week. :- (


Asterina starfish

Cute aren't they?

Unfortunately,
Kill it with fire!

They will compete with difficult to keep, beautiful, fromia and linkia stars.

They also have a taste for zoas. Possibly a taste for coraline algae.
There are multiple varieties and they all look alike. Supposedly some are harmless and some are a terror.

6 years ago we intentionally added a few white ones from the LFS and I thought they were really cute.

Have removed over 500 in the past several years and the majority of them are now grey or even black (supposedly the ones most likely to damage other creatures).
In my mind there is no difference. They all need to be removed.

Begun eradication 2 years ago.
1st month 200
2nd month 100
Rest of year 200.
Since then 100.

They are the gift that keeps on giving.

Took out 3 more this weekend.
[emoji53]

 

[Jamo7]

Well ok! I thought about getting it out when I first saw it but didn’t because I had to go to work. Next time I see it out it goes. Hopefully I see it again and it doesn’t eat my zoas before than.

 

[Jamo7]

Definitely asternia by the way

 

[Tamberav]

I added asternia to all my tanks a long time ago, no issues with zoas and I wish they would eat coralline, that stuff growing out of control. Mine eat micro algae. I have had them for almost 8 years now without a single problem.

There are many types ofc and some are probably a pest.

 

[Bubba002]

Exact same thing as jamo7. Just starting to see them last Saturday. Haven’t added anything new except two turbo snails. Have alerted everyone in family WASH YOUR HANDS AND GET THEM OUT!

 

[Jamo7]

Any further suggestions for getting rid of these guys? I keep finding them here and there.

 

[HOOPDEEZ]

Harlequin shrimp will eat them

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's my experience with Asterina starfish. If they are white to light grey or light tan, they are reef safe and will only eat the algae on your glass. If they are very dark to black, they are more likely not reef safe. I've had Asterina for a good twelve years without issue. And you think you have one, you don't....you have more than one. Their common way of reproducing is to simply split in two, so it's not uncommon to see two to three legged starfish shortly after they split.