2-legged starfish hitchhiker

[garnet13aj]

So this guy came attatched to my liverock last weekend and he crawled away and I figured he'd die and I'd never see him again. But this morning he popped up again at the front of my tank. Anybody have any clue what he is? Sorry for the horrible pictures he's really small.
You kindof have to search for him, he's kindof orangish:
He's on the white rock in this one.

He's on the edge of the gray rock in this one.

 

[bigarn]

asterina ....

 

[garnet13aj]

Sweet, quick reply! Do you know anything about them? Is it likely that it will scavenge in my tank and survive on its own? And do I want it to? I have a 55g FOWLR, no corals and such.

 

[bigarn]

it'll survive on it's own .... their populations increase and decrease on their own. no corals, no problems.

 

[garnet13aj]

Sweet deal, I love free animals!

 

[bigred]

They're not really a nuisance but the can multiply very fast and take over. They multiply by dropping arms so the more you have the faster they multiply. My opinion is to take it out.

 

[ophiura]

I personally would not take it out. These animals, like many others, will reproduce in response to available nutrients. If you are over run by them, then you should be concerned, IMO....that is a sign of a lot of nutrients.
Rarely do you get a problematic species...and they don't suddenly "turn bad" if you get corals.

 

[reefreak29]

yeh i used to have a lot of these benificial little stars, as my tank matured iseem to have less and less.
i believe thay reproduce by splitting