Can't find my starfish

[lisajjameson]

I added a small 'common sea star" yesterday afternoon. He headed under the live rock and I've not seen him since. He's about 2" and yellow in color, very cute. I checked under every rock to no avail. I even checked the filter even though there is no way he would have gotten in there. So...do they burrow or something? Tell me what to look for or what to expect with regards to my new little guy.
P.S. Relative nube...50gal tank, live rock and fish only. clown loach, two blue damsels, PJ cardinal, and two very small pork fish.

 

[bang guy]

What's a Pork Fish? Do you know the species of starfish?
Clown Loach are freshwater fish, do you know the actual species name? My fear is that you have a predatory fish that just had a nice expensive lunch.

 

[saxman]

I'm guessing you mean mean "clownfish" as opposed to "clown loach".
Hopefully, you have a good sized tank if you have two porkfish...they grow to about 16" in the wild, altho they typically come in as small juvies. You likely have the Atlantic Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus), which is a member of the grunt family.
As for your starfish, in the wild, porkfish feed on small, bottom-dwelling critters such as crustaceans, echinoderms (which includes STARFISH), and annelids.
I'd say Bang Guy is right-on...you served up a nice meal to your porkfishes...

 

[lisajjameson]

The starfish is making appearances at night...so he is definately burrowing. I did lose one of the porkfish and I'm okay with that after reading how large they can potentially get. My fish guy is telling me it depends on the tank size. So, I'll keep an eye on him, if he gets too large I'll look into rehoming. I have a 50 gallon, a 4-6 inch fish in one thing, 16...quite another. My fish guy keeps his porkfish with inverts...stars, snails, crabs, shrimp and much more with no problems. I'll keep my fingers crossed...and do a little more research before adding any fish I am this unfamiliar with. Lesson learned.
Thank you all for your help, I appreciate it!

 

[saxman]

There's a bit of "tank stunting" that may occur, but that's not something to count on, as many SW fish don't seem to be aware of that little bit of (outdated) info. For a well-fed, healthy fish, plan on MAYBE a reduction in size of about 20%. However, this size reduction is due in a large part to nutrition rather than tank size.
After all, if fish only grew in response to tank size, you could keep a great white shark in a 20 gal... *wink*

 

[lisajjameson]

Oh, so true, so true...when you put it that way it makes sense. Guess I'm just a gullable newb. Thankfully I have all of you! I think re-homing the pork is best...and we'll pay more attention to what I'm doing from here on out!
Thanks again all of you, I appreciate it.
Lisa