Hi, just found this small starfish. It's maybe 1/8th and an inch if that. Anyone know what kind it is and if its anything to worry about? Will tank mates eat it?



Thanks

That's an asterina star. Nothing to worry about. All they do is eat algae and procreate so you will have around 20 or 30 in a month lol. So people hate them and claim they eat coral but I have seen no proof of it.

Cool, I love to see the diversity so glad its nothing to worry about.

Thanks!

+1 to asterina. I too have read from several sources that they eat coral, but I've got some and haven't seen them touch it.

I really think some people need a scapegoat when a coral gets sick because asterinas will finish off an ailing zoanthid or 2

What you should think is that maybe there are different kinds of asterinas out there and that maybe there is a kind that does indeed eat coral.

+1. They are from the family Asterinidae, which may or may not mean a species from the genus Asterina.

I won't dispute that thought; however, it would seem that the vast majority are coral friendly. If I were to lose zoas out of previously healthy colonies where an asterina just so happened to have been frequenting, then I would become suspicious as well. I was just saying that if someone has an asterina, then chances are it's reef safe. That's obviously a point of contention though