bristle starfish cuts its own leg off..

[dse]

hay all.
just a quick question i know it's fine and safe for it to miss a part of it's leg but with the bit cut off is there a possible chance of it surviving and growing? the starfish did this to it's self this morning wich i thought was wierd.
then i saw it moving around on the sand andwhen i feed the fish brine with seaweed it was going mentle trying to grab the food.
at the moment it's hlding a brine shrimp.
will it survive as i have no clue.

 

[socal57che]

How, exactly, did it do this?
Are you sure it's not decay?

 

[kingsmith]

I think they need to have part of their center body to regrow like you could cut one in half and have 2 never tried but I am tempted to with my killer CC star

 

[socal57che]

Originally Posted by KingSmith
http:///forum/post/2785977
I think they need to have part of their center body to regrow like you could cut one in half and have 2 never tried but I am tempted to with my killer CC star
While this is not uncommon in the wild, it is not likely to regrow the appendage in captivity. Where is ophiura?

 

[fallensynner]

from what i know the arm regrows if it looses one. the starfish turns into 2 if u split them down the middle.
not always but most of the time

 

[socal57che]

Brittle stars can replace a limb, but the limb can't grow a new disc.

 

[socal57che]

Here is a nice article about brittle stars.
http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid/html/what.html

 

[dse]

cheers everyone for the help.
and thanks for the link. alot of stuff on there that i did not know and some of it creeped me out lol

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by dse
http:///forum/post/2785779
hay all.
just a quick question i know it's fine and safe for it to miss a part of it's leg but with the bit cut off is there a possible chance of it surviving and growing? the starfish did this to it's self this morning wich i thought was wierd.
then i saw it moving around on the sand andwhen i feed the fish brine with seaweed it was going mentle trying to grab the food.
at the moment it's hlding a brine shrimp.
will it survive as i have no clue.

Originally Posted by dse
http:///forum/post/2786974
cheers everyone for the help.
and thanks for the link. alot of stuff on there that i did not know and some of it creeped me out lol
While this sounds fun and amusing, you have not answered how the star "cut" his arm off. What is your SG? How long have you had this star? How did you acclimate it? If your SG is under 1.025 then the missing area is because of the SG. If the star is new, under a month, then it could be acclimation shock. They don't often sever their own limbs.