Starfish getting eaten by shrimp

[jim_green_]

My Sanddusting starfish came home three days ago and are being attacked by the peppermint shrimp. I see the shrimp molesting the starfish and now my starfish only has two good legs. Is there any thing i can do?

 

[mombostic]

The starfish was mostly likely dying anyway, and the pep started scavenging on it. I learned a hard lesson with a sand sifter, and I wouldn't recommend having one. A lot of times you will see the hermit crabs and shrimp on something like that, and i looks like they might have killed it, but really they are only doing their clean-up duties.
Sorry--trust me I know it's horrible to watch.

 

[ophiura]

I agree. How did you acclimate this star and what are you water parameters? Most commonly these animals are cleaning up a dying star. I also do not recommend another....most of these stars will die in captivity.

 

[dea bad lt]

So what is the life expectancy of a ss starfish. Mine has been in my tank for over a year now with no problems.

 

[ophiura]

It varies. In most hobbyists tanks they may survive about 6 months to about a year before dying of starvation (without obvious signs of trouble - they just start disintegrating). In certain tanks, or certain individual stars, they may do OK. It comes down to surface area of sand, the health of the sand bed, and whether or not the star will consume other foods. Most do not, and most are not in large enough tanks to sustain them for more than a year. I would say few survive past 18 months in captivity...their life span in the wild is relatively unknown...but certainly FAR longer than in captivity. In fact, there is discussion in the echinoderm world (including seastars) as to whether they ever really die of "old age."