Unidentified creature in live rock, new tank

[Laflew]

Found this little guy coming out of the rock and was just unsure of what it could be. Extremely new to saltwater and just wanted to see if anyone knew what it was, thanks a lot!

 

[shakacuz]

asterina star. harmless but does reproduce quickly and can overrun a tank. harlequin shrimp is its natural predator

 

[damsels are not mean]

Looks like one of the many species of Aquilonastra (formerly classified under Asterina). They are harmless but numerous. If you really hate the look of them you should remove it. Most likely you will end up with some species anyways. They feed on bacterial biofilms. You will find them grazing on the rocks, or on the glass when it's dirty. They will also often graze on stressed or dying corals but this should not be mistaken as predation on the coral directly. It might actually help the coral deal with the bacterial load.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Laflew]

Found this little guy coming out of the rock and was just unsure of what it could be. Extremely new to saltwater and just wanted to see if anyone knew what it was, thanks a lot!

Thanks

Looks like one of the many species of Aquilonastra (formerly classified under Asterina). They are harmless but numerous. If you really hate the look of them you should remove it. Most likely you will end up with some species anyways. They feed on bacterial biofilms. You will find them grazing on the rocks, or on the glass when it's dirty. They will also often graze on stressed or dying corals but this should not be mistaken as predation on the coral directly. It might actually help the coral deal with the bacterial load.

Thanks for the reply, this is going to be a fish only tank so the concern for corals being munched on isnt too big. Are these a species that can transfer ich to fish when i begin to add them later?

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[damsels are not mean]

Thanks

Thanks for the reply, this is going to be a fish only tank so the concern for corals being munched on isnt too big. Are these a species that can transfer ich to fish when i begin to add them later?

No but the rock could if you don't fallow it.