ophiura, I saw a huge........

mr_bill

Active Member
I was at my LFS yesturday afternoon and was admiring all the goodies when I saw a huuuuuuge green arm wave past the front of the tank. It was in the tanks he has up top so I had to get on a stool to see what it was. It was a green brittle star that had to of been 18" or more from tip to tip. Is this a certain breed of brittle star or do most of the common ones people purchase reach this size? It has the same "hairy" like arms as the red/brown brittles but was a jade green color.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Most likely it was the common green brittlestar Ophiarachna incrassata, aka "the green death." It is a known predator in the wild, and in some tanks as well. Very commonly sold as it is very hardy. But no, that is not an abnormal size for one. But other species of brittlestars do not get as large.
 

mr_bill

Active Member
I am new to the starfish thing, and just recently purchased a red brittle star for my tank. I feed it pieces of shrimp and fish on the same schedule as my anemone. Do you by chance know the average size of the common red brittle?
The "green death" that I saw was way to large for something I'd want in my tank. I was being conservative with the 18" estimate I'd bet he was closer to 22" tip to tip. This one in particular had no fear and was spreading its self far across the tank.
 

ophiura

Active Member
I would need to see a picture of the one you have. There are over 2100 species of brittlestars. I have an idea of what you might have, but I would need to see a picture.
 

mr_bill

Active Member
Will do, it won't be easy but he comes out a tad during feeding time. As far as a description goes...
redish tendrils on each side of the arms with a black stripe pattern on greyish skin. The main body is redish with a star like pattern lined in a darker color.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Nice, that appears to be Ophiocoma wendtii though it has a lot of red in it. But still very nice
It gets to be moderately large, but IME no where near as aggressive. It most likely really shuns the light. During the day I imagine you may only see arms...at night it may come out more but it would be a lighter color in the dark than during the day.
 

mr_bill

Active Member
Thanks ophiura

Are they not supposed to be red? I bought it under the tag of red brittle star, and I'd hate to lose my first star. It is very active but I'm worried that the food I give it is stolen away by the big bad bristle worms in my tank. Your absolutly correct with the light shyness thing, it really prefers the dark and I currently feed it using a BBQ scewer made of wood with small pieces of shrimp/fish. Probably about 8" tip to tip currently, by chance to you know the average full grown size?
 

mr_bill

Active Member
Wow, I'm going to read more on this tomarrow. Getting a little too tired tonight and need to wakeup early. This star is a one of kind organism with perfectly engineered lenses which so far with what I've read act as one big eye. They change colors because in the day time they can actually turn the lenses darker like a pair of sun glasses to filter out light.
Amazing.....
 

ophiura

Active Member
Yes, it was quite famous recently for this research...more links on my website (click on my name) though I reckon rather a lot are now out of date. Gotta get back to work on that thing.
The fundamental problem is that they are not known to have a brain as we recognize it. How they process all of this information using this extremely advanced system is somewhat of a mystery.
 

mr_bill

Active Member
I had just one more question about this star. I currently feed it when the lights are on, but can not actually see it eat because the main body stays hidden under rock. Do brittle stars eat food fairly fast? I'm concerned the food I give it is stolen away by bristle worms.
 
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