Ophiura= Starfish ?

[jesses89]

what kind of starfish is this?

 

[bang guy]

She'll probably need a close-up of the bottom.

 

[peckhead]

idk but my lfs sells it for 45$!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jesses89]

its white at the bottom and purpleish at the top..
ill try and get a pic of the bottom.

 

[jesses89]

sorry about the crappy pic.

 

[fedukeford]

Looks like a linkia to me... but you'll want to wait for Ophiura's opinion

 

[alyssia]

Is it one of those "purple" linckias? Did you buy it?

 

[jesses89]

no i didnt buy it. i saw one of its legs today when i turned on the lights.. i looked closer and to my surprise it was that.. i took it out of my tank and put it in a bag. It probably came in my live rock? should of i not have taken it out? i have some mushrooms in my tank... will it eat/harm those?

 

[who dey]

i want one :happyfish

 

[alyssia]

bump, cause I wanna know what it is too

 

[ophiura]

My guess from that distance is Echinaster luzonicus aka the burgundy Linckia.
Large tank, lots of LR, Mature reef, etc etc etc. Just like all the other Linckia stars (it is Echinaster, a close relative)

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by Jesses89
no i didnt buy it. i saw one of its legs today when i turned on the lights.. i looked closer and to my surprise it was that.. i took it out of my tank and put it in a bag. It probably came in my live rock? should of i not have taken it out? i have some mushrooms in my tank... will it eat/harm those?

It is reef safe and harmless, IMO, but needs a lot of LR to survive long term (eg 100lbs absolute minimum)

 

[jesses89]

thanks ophiura.
Whats it eat?
can i spot feed it?

 

[madman33]

i dont think anyone truely knows what they eat but occasionally they will take krill silversides squid or something like that but its rare...mine didnt

 

[surfinusa]

looks like a purple linckia star

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by Jesses89
thanks ophiura.
Whats it eat?
can i spot feed it?

As a general rule, it can not be spot fed. I would suggest trying (just about anything), but typically they do not.
Success with them is highly correlated with the amount of surface area of LR. They do not eat "algae and detritus' in the sense we think of it. THey probably eat microfauna, algal/bacterial films, or various encrusting creatures on LR such as bryozoans, some sponges, etc.