Who is this baby?

[rainbow_yoshi]

I was just looking in my tank and saw this guy. He appears like a baby starfish but has six appendages? Can anyone ID him for me?
I get my saltwater premixed from a LFS, have not bought anything else is a looooong time. I’m so confused.

My seafriends:

Orange starfish (forget the exact species)
Snails
Clown 1 and clown 2 (pair)
Font and pistol shrimp (pair)
Scooter Blenny.

My tank will be a year old next month. Thank you!

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

Looks like an Asterina starfish. Whether or not to get rid of it? It really depends on who you talk to. Some allow them, some remove them. This thread may be helpful!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/l...eeing-asterina-starfish-in-your-tank.1071731/

 

[rainbow_yoshi]

Looks like an Asterina starfish. Whether or not to get rid of it? It really depends on who you talk to. Some allow them, some remove them. This thread may be helpful!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/l...eeing-asterina-starfish-in-your-tank.1071731/

Thank you. This may be a dumb question but I am perplexed to where he came from. Could he have been in some of the pre mixed water from LFS? I haven’t purchased anything else in a reallllly long time!

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

Thank you. This may be a dumb question but I am perplexed to where he came from. Could he have been in some of the pre mixed water from LFS? I haven’t purchased anything else in a reallllly long time!

No dumb questions! They are a pretty common hitchhiker and could have easily made it in on any frags, or if you have any live rock in your tank. From the picture, that one looks bigger, so he could have just started really small and has been hiding until now.

 

[Leo Bezner]

I have seen Asterina starfish eat sick zoanthids and they reproduce super fast, but really they don't bother me to bad.