sandsifting star warning
- Thread starter sly65sally200
- Start date
sly65sally200
Member
I just took some more pics of him...my husband fed him shrimp...you could see him just come out of hiding within minutes...We've never fed him that big of piece either. Pics will be posted within the hour.
sly65sally200
Member
First set of pics showing him coming out from sand to eat shrimp about the size of a thumb...never fed him that big of a piece before.
sly65sally200
Member
Second set, he has the shrimp and then he goes back into the sand to consume it...
T
tizzo
Guest
ewwe, that's worse than jaws! If I ever need to hide a body, I'm putting it in your tank, LOL
Do you even have any corals?
the crown of thorns I'd an obligate coral eater, but the sand sifting type, and I'm pretty sure you have one from that family, are mostly meat eaters.
Do you even have any corals?
the crown of thorns I'd an obligate coral eater, but the sand sifting type, and I'm pretty sure you have one from that family, are mostly meat eaters.
sly65sally200
Member
I have several corals...but I 've had some die in the past two months...The ones now alive are several zoos, frogspawn, sun coral, hammer, xenia, leather toadstools, gsp, several leathers, candy cane, mushrooms of all types, red open brain, green open brain, maze brain...
the most recent death was a purple fungia plate....it died within 4 days. I have no idea why. It started losing it's tissue in lateral lines from moth outward.
I also had a modern brain die...i thought it was from these red pod looking bugs that were living in it...never could figure that one out. It too was missing tissue.
All the coral, minus my open brains and sun coral that lived on the bottom sand bed died. I had some zoos on a small rock that died one by one too. My oyster died, all my snails. I have one cleaning shrimp left. I blame the starfish for the small inverts and small fish that disappeared, but I don't know about coral. Would he hurt lps corals? I would like an identification if I could...I've been looking on the net, but haven't found anything close to his appearance.
He's mostly pinkish tan and brown with lighter colors, but he has some purple spots along his spines.
the most recent death was a purple fungia plate....it died within 4 days. I have no idea why. It started losing it's tissue in lateral lines from moth outward.
I also had a modern brain die...i thought it was from these red pod looking bugs that were living in it...never could figure that one out. It too was missing tissue.
All the coral, minus my open brains and sun coral that lived on the bottom sand bed died. I had some zoos on a small rock that died one by one too. My oyster died, all my snails. I have one cleaning shrimp left. I blame the starfish for the small inverts and small fish that disappeared, but I don't know about coral. Would he hurt lps corals? I would like an identification if I could...I've been looking on the net, but haven't found anything close to his appearance.
He's mostly pinkish tan and brown with lighter colors, but he has some purple spots along his spines.
sly65sally200
Member
bumpity bump
ophiura
Active Member
That is definitely not the typical sand sifter, Archaster typicus.
I'll send that off to a specialist to ID, but it is more like Astropecten, which is a VORACIOUS predator. YOu need to give it to someone with a fish only tank or at the very least feed the heck out of it.
Astropecten polyacanthus is a predator of shelfish and even other echinoderms.
TRUE sand sifter stars, Archaster, can not typically be spot fed and do not tend to be predatory on larger animals.
The two sand sifters shown above are likely showing "pseudocopulation" which we see and has been documented only in this species, though actual reproductive success is likely low.
Now worries it is not even close to a crown of thorns star.
no harm from that.
I'll send that off to a specialist to ID, but it is more like Astropecten, which is a VORACIOUS predator. YOu need to give it to someone with a fish only tank or at the very least feed the heck out of it.
Astropecten polyacanthus is a predator of shelfish and even other echinoderms.
TRUE sand sifter stars, Archaster, can not typically be spot fed and do not tend to be predatory on larger animals.
The two sand sifters shown above are likely showing "pseudocopulation" which we see and has been documented only in this species, though actual reproductive success is likely low.
Now worries it is not even close to a crown of thorns star.
sly65sally200
Member
Thank you for information...I can't wait for the id. I've been feeding it bigger pieces of meat ever since I found out that it was my killer in my tank...I don't trust my lfs with him...they've killed everything i've traded in. I had a giant fish eating mushroom that I traded in that was cool, but it ate fish...especially clowns. I kind of find this star interesting now, in a way that I might set up a fish only tank. Until then, I am going to keep spot feeding him, hoping I'm not making him more agressive. But I will hold off till the id. Thanks again,
sly65sally200
Member
If this helps any...this star fish can crawl everywhere he wants. He's not limited to the sand and rocks. He can move fast...up the glass...down the glass...all over the glass. He's even crawled on the egg crate lid. Thanks again.
rebelprettyboy
Active Member
Man never clicked this thread cuz I thought it was a boring ugly starfish lol... I click it today and find out some interesting things, and see some kool pic.
Now to wait for the ID
Now to wait for the ID
ophiura
Active Member
Response from the seastar expert (and this is not a hobby person, this is someone who is truly a scientific expert in the field)
Yeah. that's Astropecten sp. cf. polyacanthus. Definitely NOT
Archaster. There's actually a number of species that look like this
but A. polyacanthus is the most commonly encountered-and its not
entirely clear if the others are simply variations on a theme.p
To translate a bit, the "cf" means that it is very similar to the species polyacanthus. It IS an Astropecten and this genus is actually quite different (in separate orders) from the sand sifter Archaster though they look similar. That means they are not even in the same family scientifically. VERY different beasts, very different behavior.
That star is NOT the typical sand sifter in the hobby, which is Archaster typicus.
Anyone who has the star shown, Astropecten polyacanthus, needs to find a new home for it (in a FOWLR tank) or deal with the consequences
it is behaving normally and you won't like be able to change it 
They don't "know" when the next meal is coming so if something is available, they will eat it.
Yeah. that's Astropecten sp. cf. polyacanthus. Definitely NOT
Archaster. There's actually a number of species that look like this
but A. polyacanthus is the most commonly encountered-and its not
entirely clear if the others are simply variations on a theme.p
To translate a bit, the "cf" means that it is very similar to the species polyacanthus. It IS an Astropecten and this genus is actually quite different (in separate orders) from the sand sifter Archaster though they look similar. That means they are not even in the same family scientifically. VERY different beasts, very different behavior.
That star is NOT the typical sand sifter in the hobby, which is Archaster typicus.
Anyone who has the star shown, Astropecten polyacanthus, needs to find a new home for it (in a FOWLR tank) or deal with the consequences
They don't "know" when the next meal is coming so if something is available, they will eat it.
rebelprettyboy
Active Member
Thats some good info there. Learned enough for today!
T
tizzo
Guest
]
Originally Posted by rebelprettyboy
http:///forum/post/2638559
Thats some good info there. Learned enough for today!
Yeah but you coulda got all that info WAY back in post #20.
Originally Posted by rebelprettyboy
http:///forum/post/2638559
Thats some good info there. Learned enough for today!
Yeah but you coulda got all that info WAY back in post #20.
T
tizzo
Guest
Same Chris?? Mah?
Neat.
Neat.
bgbdwlf2500
Member
thats pretty wild to learn there are starfish that realize food is there... my SSS was very slow moving and wouldnt eat any food i put in the tank...
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2638592
Same Chris?? Mah?
Neat.
Yup. We were basically ying and yang as grad students - seastars and brittlestars. Just that he stuck with it.
http:///forum/post/2638592
Same Chris?? Mah?
Neat.
Yup. We were basically ying and yang as grad students - seastars and brittlestars. Just that he stuck with it.