Purple starfish id

[sitnlowdown]

hello every one got a question for you all. i just spent a week in daytona fl. well i was wlking on the beach and found a purple starfish with a very orange outline around him and broght him home. he is still alive in 55 by him self. he is a noturnal starfish and burrows in the sand and is very very fast , So my question is what kind is he is he reef safe any info on this star fish would be great please it is a very nice very nice looking star fish. feel free to email or post if ya know anything about thsi star fish. ill try and get some pics of him and post tonight.
thanks daniel
sitnlowdownsouth@aol.com

 

[ophiura]

The animal is almost certainly Astropecten articulatus by the color and behavior. It is not reef safe. One reference that I have called it a "voracious nonselective predator" mostly on other inverts, including its own species. I wouldn't put it in my tank for sure. Best to leave that one in the wild. It might take to pieces of shrimp, silversides, etc, but will always be a risk to any other invert in the tank (snails, clams, crabs, stars, worms, etc).

 

[angelap]

My lfs just got some of those same starfish from someone in Florida. He is trying to find out what they are and if they are reef safe or not. They are very pretty though. I'm glad I found this thread, because I was thinking about buying one. Instead, I've printed the thread and will take it to him so he will know not to sell those as reef safe.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[ophiura]

In behavior (and body shape), they are similar to sand sifting stars, which are also not reef safe. However, sand sifters are going after smaller critters in a sand bed (and so people don't consider them a major risk), but this beast is going after much larger things. Anything that seems to move really fast and consume a wide variety of invertebrates is a major risk, IMO, to anything in a reef tank.
Some quotes from "Sea stars, sea urchins and allies: Echinoderms of Florida and the Caribbean" by Hendler, Pawson, Miller and Kier:
...found that A. articulatus forages most intensively at dawn and dusk and adjusts its searching behavior according to the density or the prey. The suggested that the species can discriminate among prey items by contact chemoreception. However, Wells et al (1961) characterized it as a voracious, nonselective predator. By examining the gut contents of 124 individuals...they identified 91 species of invertebrate prey. The predominant items were gastropod, scaphopod and bivalve mollusks (73 species); other significant prey consisted of small crustaceans, juvenile sand dollars and juvenile specimens of A. articulatus.
...move rapidly for seastars, reaching speeds of 75 cm/minute

 

[sitnlowdown]

hey thanks ophiura he'll be going to the lfs then thanks for the help i really greatful for the info
thanks again daniel