StanD Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Found a hitchhiker on the LR I have been cycling...picture will follow but here's a description: Very small - about 1/8" Five points - end of each leg form an inverted V shape at the tip Black dot at the center (top) Mottled grey coloring throughout White underside Thanks, Stan Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Look up Asterina stars.... www.wetwebmedia.com Link to comment
StanD Posted September 9, 2005 Author Share Posted September 9, 2005 here ya go... for reference the circle would be dime sized in real life! Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 Reef safe. I got a but load of'em. If you see any with SEVEN LEGS remove them asap. they eat sps. Link to comment
StanD Posted September 9, 2005 Author Share Posted September 9, 2005 Nice! I like the fact that they're so tiny!! Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted September 9, 2005 Share Posted September 9, 2005 RMM, that number of legs thing is silly. I had a 3-legged one eating a PPE, and a four-legged one also eating a PPE... They love PPEs, lol! Heh. Number of legs means nothing. There's speculation that there are different species of these tiny stars, but it'd be impossible to tell the difference between them. Just keep an eye on them and where they usually are. They're opportunistic omnivores, and will eat algae, detritus, and sometimes (occasionally) corals. Rarely the latter...Just my bad luck. Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Realy? then why do I have an entire colony of PPE in my tank, RPE and GPE and they havent TOUCHED them or any other coral? I will even post picks tomorow night. As far as the leg count. IT IS FACT NOT SPECULATION Two of thier leggs are WAY longer than the others on predatory mini stars. I realy wish you would read up on stuff before jumping to such conclusions Caesar. http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html Leroy and my self have had MANY discussions on this very topic. DR who ever from RC is mistaken again! LOL! You diagnosed your own trouble with tem Caesar. THey are not oportunistic at all. They eat dead or dying tissues. If you PPE were being eaten then they were half dead before they went near them and already growing a decay fungus on the stalk. Link to comment
yoshiod9 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 lol...doesn't matter to me...asterina stars, in general, are on my 'do not trust' list. they can have 48 legs and be as rare as oxygen in space...i don't care, they're being banished to my gf's tank. there's no way that i'll take the chance that they might/might not eat my corals. Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Keep your corals healthy and they wont touch them. The SUBSPIECIES of asterina stars that eat corals are not very comon to find. But they do have 7 leggs . LOL! I hear ya thouhg on the skidishness. I am battling nudis now too! Got them from a local lfs I believe with my last purchase. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 RMM, again, the species varies. GARF talks big, but there's no way to know which species a star is. My PPE-eaters were all different sizes and shapes, including one perfectly even Jewish-star-shaped one. Tellin' ya, man...That legs thing is silly speculation. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 There's nothing about number/length of legs in that article, least not that I found. "they're being banished to my gf's tank" LOL! Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 not sure about the leg thing, but i do know there are some (not many) asterina starsthat eat corals. but hey, theyd eat em in the wild too. Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Because it was in the PHOTOS. Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 RPE GPE PPE Asterina stars in my tank SPS eating asterina star fish from garf http://www.garf.org/32/27/STARFISH/red188142.jpg AND http://www.garf.org/32/27/STARFISH/tweez201232.jpg http://www.garf.org/32/27/STARFISH/tweez168199.jpg Leroy recomended taking any you find out becuase he can not GAURUNTEE tey willnot eat sps or other coral. But I have absolute proof other wise in the pictures I posted alone. If they have 5 leggs they are good, if they have 6 legs they are good (UNLESS TWO ARE MUCH LONGER THAN THE REST) If they have 7 they are bad every time. I swear to you in front of the big "G" in the sky. The 5 legged and the symetrical legged 6 leg stars are reef safe 100 percent. THEY WILl ONLY EAT A CORAL IF IT IS ALREADY ON ITS WAY OUT. It is thier role in nature. Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 you need to come up off some of those rpe's and ppe's!!! Hey Reef, I just picked up a real nice Redish orange monti cap, at A&E where i met u a couple months ago...hope that ain't were u got the nudis???? And what type a nudis are the exactly?? Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Greg? I'll be ! how ya doing guy!!! Nah I got them from JAF. They take on what ever color zoanthids they are munching on. VERY hard to find the little bastards too! LOL! BTW the frag I traded you was 100 percent nudi free! LOL! I got them after we made the trade. I bought a nice littlwe rock of true blues and guess what came with them BTW working on frags of each as we speak but it will be a while. Slow growers. Now that I know who you are you can vouche for me that I am not a retailor! LOL!!!! Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 RMM - I think you're just making assumptions from the photos. I've had plenty of six-legged stars with even-lengthed legs cause problems. Telling ya! I'm not new at this! Link to comment
Reef_Mad_Man Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Never said you were new at this. Just that your wrong about this subject or atleast have some MUTANT mini's maybe? how am I making assumptions when for 10 of the past 20 years of reef, and saltwater fish keeping I have been keeping these little guys? The photos I posted save for the links ARE IN MY TANK. Read ALL of the mail to and from Leroy on the page not just the article. I am sure I read about the 7 legged stars there. AS well as the 6 legged with the two longer leggs. I am telling YOU if those stars ate your ppe , your ppe were dead before they touched them. Link to comment
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