black banded serpent starfish??????

[abombinus]

just found a baby starfish or what appears to be a baby starfish in my tank...its a soon to be reef tank with only live rock as of right now, no corals yet. could this be a serpent starfish and if so what type? its a little less than an inch in diameter and has 5 legs which appear to be white and a dark striped color. the center of it is also a dark color. havent seen it real good and close yet to give exact coloration. seems to be sticking around the molt of my coral banded shrimp. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanx....

 

[bobber]

Ah, the joys of hitchhikers! This IS a serpent star. It is excellent to have and will eat detritus and will not harm your future corals. He will stay hidden most of the day and can be seen at night scrounging for food. If you feed regularly, you might see him when you feed. It's very cool to watch him eat(curls his arms around the food and bring it to his mouth on the central disk). Enjoy him! HTH--Bob