HogWinslow Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 I went to my LFS today and they were pulling mini-starfish off a fresh batch of gorgonians. They told me that they would eat the polyps. They thought the gorgonians came from Figi and they were yelow and red in color. The star fish are a pale white color and about the size of a dime to a quarter. They look exactly like a basket star but smaller. Maybe they are babys? The also pulled about a 6 inch, pale white worm off them. The guy told me it stung him. About every 1/8" there are 1/8" legs that come off both sides of the worm. Can anyone tell me what the stars are and if they are bad? How about the worm? Any guess what it could be? I was going to post this in the ID forum but I don't have pictures of them. Please keep in mond that my LFS isn't that great and I only beleive half of what they say. Hog Link to comment
thisanthrope Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 sounds like asterina starfish. some people keep them but they have been known to eat coral and coralline. no idea what the worm is. good star, or bad star? Link to comment
caja Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 I agree, Hog, run a search either here at NR or on google for asterinas. Asterinas tend to be cream colored and dime sized or smaller and have irregular arms, some being full sized arms, others shortened. Not sure about the worm, possibly a peanut worm, but they don't sting. Link to comment
HogWinslow Posted January 25, 2004 Author Share Posted January 25, 2004 I went on Google and did a search for asterinas starfish. The ones that came up looked nothing like the ones that I got. Asterinas are a lot bigger and the wrong color. The ones I'm wondering about have very thin body and legs. They are the size of a quarter at the largest. Anyone else have any ideas? I did a search on RC and I found a thread where Dr. Ron said the stars that were in question were probably eating dead tissue from the polyps and eating live tissue. Due to previous conditions in the tank Dr. Ron said the coral was dead and the stars were scavenging on it. I wonder if the gorgions were stressed from shipment and these stars were eating the dead tissue. Hog Link to comment
Masoch Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 If the legs were really spindly, they could be mini brittlestars --generally considered very beneficial detritus eaters / scavengers. The worm couldha' been a bristle worm -- generally considered a very beneficial scavenger. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.