• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

starfish identification

hlywkar

O. vulgaris
Registered
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
81
Hey guys.. been awhile since I was on here.

Haven't really had the chance to post anything, because nothing was new.

I was getting bored with my damsels so I shifted them to a smaller tank.

Picked up a clown and a tang. they look better. and wont give me as much hassle as the damsels.

as well as a starfish...
which after looking on the net, am questioning if it is reef safe. I may need to put it in the other tank as well.

can you guys tell me what you think this is.

it's is brown and grey, with orange tips, and a white bottom, and 5 legs.

I just hope it's not a chocolate chip star, cause I read those suckers eat corals and other reef.
When I bought it, I asked the guy, in korean what he ate... he just said that he cleaned the bottom of the tank.


also, my soft coral... not sure what it is either. I think it's a leather... it has gone into remission. I think my crabs were bothering it. but I got rid of them. they kept walking on it and it wouldn't come out for a week or so when they did.

it looks like it is almost eating itself away. anything I can do?
 

Attachments

  • conv_303726.jpg
    conv_303726.jpg
    779.6 KB · Views: 115
  • conv_303727.jpg
    conv_303727.jpg
    789.2 KB · Views: 140
  • conv_303728.jpg
    conv_303728.jpg
    798.2 KB · Views: 120
I dont really know what it is and i dont think a lot of us on here would know what kind it is. I would just watch it and observe if it is bothering any of you corals. The one guess i have is an armorer sea star. They dig in the sand and climb all over. I dont think they eat coral. I not sure though thats what it lookes like to me.
 
well right now it's just hanging out at the top of the water line. with one arm foating upside down on the surface. i tossed in a piece of fish beside it, so I'll know if it eats fish at least
 
here's some more. I think he is eat the fish. it looks like some membrane of sorts came out of the middle part. if he is eat eating it, it's not happening very fast. I'll keep checking up on it though.
 

Attachments

  • conv_294842.jpg
    conv_294842.jpg
    46.4 KB · Views: 85
  • conv_294843.jpg
    conv_294843.jpg
    44.7 KB · Views: 112
  • conv_294844.jpg
    conv_294844.jpg
    43.1 KB · Views: 86
I am not well versed in starfish and would not know how similar your star is to the knobby in with Maya (an accident, I actually meant to get a thorny but was not listening well when it was added to my goody bag :oops:) but it has not bothered the polyps, mushrooms or gorgonians and has done well in the tank. It seems to be an omnivore (veggies and meat) and I have become comfortable with it in this environment. The fact that it is climbing the glass would suggest that it eats vegatable matter but that does not exclude meat. I have found that our common omnivores will leave living things alone as long as there is enough other food. When the food supply is too low, then you may see a problem and once they start eating corals, a new supply of food will not likely change the behavior (true of pencil urchins as well but I have not seen this with pin cushions). Bear in mind that I keep very simple animals and no hard corals so my observations may break down in a different environment.

Fortunately, stars are slow eaters and daily observation should be enough to tell you if you are going to have a problem with something else in the tank. There are stars that are aggressive and can attack fish (usually by dropping down on them or trapping them). There is atleast one poisononus star (Crown of Thorns) that is dangereous for humans as well a marine creatures. With most, however, the concern is for them to survive rather than if they will kill something.
 
Relooking at the pictures, I would suggest looking up Bahama star to see if it is a better match. The knobby is much thinner in the arms than the Bahama and has little "webbing" (not the proper term I am sure) between the arms. Interestingly, it has been put on the, do not collect, list in FL. I have not kept one of these so my comments about the knobby do not apply. With AM's experience with Tuvalu you may want to keep it in with the fish rather than the octo when you get it. I found this interesting blog on starfish feeding techniques that you might enjoy reading.
 
Seeing Chocolate Chip Stars Written by...

if it is a chocolate ship star, it does look like the Protoreaster genus, this article suggests that they typically only eat algae and possibly micro organisms. which is why they tend to die in an aqaurium when fed oysters /clams etc.

the article is from a zoologist, same guy that did that article posted earlier on feeding

My starfish doesn't look exactly like a Protoreaster nodosus, but it looks very similar to the ones in the genus.
D - can't find Bahama star. I found a pic of a cushion star, but that's definitely not mine. do you know the scientific name?
 
Got an email back from Chris. The guy that does a bunch of research on starfish and other such ocean dwellers. He thinks it's a Pentaceraster alveolatus. He's not sure on the species though.

He says that most starfish starve to death. Even though they eat meat/clam, it is not their natural diet. And it usually will only work for a month or so.
He mentioned other people trying a sort of algae goo or milkshake of sorts... not sure how I would get my hands on that?

any 1 have any ideas?
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top