Weird amoeba thing

[Brandy Hiller]

Recently bought some live rock from a friend with an established reef of many years and found some interesting critters. This however I have no idea. It moved about an inch in an hour

 

[KJ]

Can you post a better pic of these creatures ,this one is kinda fuzzy?

 

[Tahoe61]

Kind of looks like an Asterina star to me.

 

[Brandy Hiller]

Sorry thats the best my camera can do. I was trying to get a close up of it.

 

[Brandy Hiller]

Anywho I poked it with my nail and 20 mins later it was gone

 

[ndrwater]

+1 on Asternia
There are literally hundreds of different species.
Some are algae eaters, some are coral eaters. Can be problematic due to rapid reproduction. Some people leave em, I personally remove them.

 

[ReefMaster101]

looks like an asternia baby starfish their harmless until they breed then become a lot of them. if you have a clam get rid of them right away because if they get on the clam they will kill it how to get rid of them is a harlequin shrimp.

 

[Tahoe61]

looks like an asternia baby starfish their harmless until they breed then become a lot of them. if you have a clam get rid of them right away because if they get on the clam they will kill it how to get rid of them is a harlequin shrimp.

I have never heard of Asterina being predatory to Tridacna. The star fish is not a baby just a product of lateral fission, their primary means of reproduction in the home aquarium.

 

[Brandy Hiller]

Thanks for the info. I have no clue where it went. Are they harmful to corals or no? No way of getting a harlequin shrimp so is there a plan B for getting rid of it?

 

[Tahoe61]

Hundreds of different types with different eating strategies. The vast majority are probably harmless film and coralline algae eaters, the potential problem with that variety is population explosions. Occasionally a hobbyist will encounter a zoanthids or other coral eater. Other than Harlequin shrimp it's manual removal.

 

[Brandy Hiller]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep a look out for him