Starfish with tissue coming from back/top?

adee

Member
Any idea what it can be? Nothing in the tank has been picking on it, parameters are fine, just got it Sunday.
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Was it ever exposed to air? Acclimating it To ur tank? They can't handle exposure to air
 

adee

Member
I don't think so, I made sure to be as careful as possible putting it in... Will it heal okay? (Or is it doomed?) the guy at the lfs wasn't as careful bagging it :(
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Adee, I'm sorry to say that this isn't good. It's expelling a portion of its digestive cavity through its rectum. Starfish have a couple "stomachs," a pyloric and a cardiac, and digestive glands and organs known as caeca, but no true intestine. Most sea stars have pyloric caeca that run along the arms of the animal, and some have rectal caeca as well (not all). Because of the open nature of their circulatory system, sea stars can't regulate their osmotic pressure...and if they aren't acclimated properly during all phases of their collection and transportation, they will suffer a slow degeneration that can include organ expulsion from either the oral disk or anus. This guy looks like he's suffering from osmotic shock.
Honestly, there's nothing you can do. The damage has already been done, and most likely at some point during transport. Hardier stars such as chocolate chip stars, serpent stars, etc, have a better time at dealing with salinity swings, but the "pretty" stars that we like to keep such as linkias and fromias are notoriously fragile. I have heard of cases where this happens, but the star recovers. Some people have speculated that what the owners were witnessing was some kind of strange stomach contents passing through, i.e., the equivalent of sea star diarrhea. I don't personally think that is often the case, but hey, I'm just passing on info I've read in the past.
Of course, you can find plenty of cases where the opposite is true, and the star did NOT recover. Sadly, that's the story 9 out of 10 times. Best thing you can do is work to make sure that your tank salinity and temperature is rock-steady, keep an eye on the animal to ensure no other fish are picking at it, and keep your fingers crossed. I won't sugar coat this though...it's a good chance this guy is on his way out. :-(
 
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