USF- unidentified star fish

autofreak44

Active Member
ok i found this starfish in my tank... its green and a little smaller than a dime with fat legs.




so is this star good or bad? i think the spots on the PH are from it, which makes me think its bad...
 

coraljunky

Active Member
Originally Posted by autofreak44
good? bad? why is it causing the spotting on the coraline?
Beneficial
Not sure about the coraline spotting, may be coincidence.
 

ophiura

Active Member
It is effectively eating the surface. The spotting is somewhat of a defensive measure of the coralline but it certainly doesn't look like you have issues growing it
I consider them, 99% of the time, normal, harmless and part of the ecosystem. Now and then a predatory species gets in, but if it is eating algae, it won't suddenly become predatory.
 

renogaw

Active Member
ok ophiura...
1) there are no links to other websites, and that one has links to other websites in it so you need to remove it :p
2) asterinas generally have 6 legs i thought.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
ok ophuira...
1) there are no links to other websites, and that one has links to other websites in it so you need to remove it :p
2) asterinas generally have 6 legs i thought.

(Psst reno they can have any number of legs often seen with only one or two or three legs after they divide) there are a bunch of different species of them number of legs is pretty much meaningless.
 

renogaw

Active Member
right, but a full asterina should have 6 legs. this looks like a full star fish, with 5 legs.
also, i've seen asterinas that actually eat the skin off of sps corals and turn the same color as the sps coral, so if it's eating coralline algae, i'd be a little wary of it.
 

renogaw

Active Member
hehe, one other thing: it is dime sized. most asterina's ive seen are only pencil eraser sized.
i'm probably way off and it is an asterina, but just curious myself if it is the proper identification
 

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Definately asterina, I have some larger to smaller,, with odd shapes and different amounts of limbs due too their splitting, im assuming. Never touched any of my corals as far as know, In a matter of fact mine seem to spend more time on the glass and powerheads..
 

ophiura

Active Member
This is an Asterina. Number of arms and coloration are not diagnostic, and even seastar experts would have trouble identifying them to species.
As for the link, hmmm. I guess you are right there
and I won't even complain about being asked to change it.
Let me quote
D. Fujita1
The sea star Asterina pectinifera causes deep-layer sloughing in Lithophyllum yessoense (Corallinales, Rhodophyta)
Hydrobiologia Volume 398-399, Number 0 / April, 1999
(1) Toyama Prefectural Fisheries Research Institute, Namerikawa, 936-8536, Japan
Abstract Deep-layer sloughing is a recently described mode of surface shedding in some encrusting coralline algae. Several causative agents or ecological roles have been suggested for its occurrence, but none have been proven. During ecological studies of urchin-dominated barren grounds in southwestern Hokkaido, the dominant encrusting coralline species, Lithophyllum yessoense, was found to be sloughing beneath the sea star, Asterina pectinifera, in shallow waters. The sea stars often stayed long in one position and left body-shaped white scars on the encrusting thalli. Anatomical studies of the scars revealed that a deep layer, well below the vegetative initials and the bottom of submerged conceptacles, was being shed. The upper layer of living columnar cells in the medulla became new vegetative initials, producing new epithallial layers above them. Deep-layer sloughing also occurred on the thalli in running-water aquarium experiments, when thalli were exposed to the sea stars. Althou gh the thalli were heavily covered with small epiphytic algae, clean surfaces were found just below the flakes of the sloughed layer. This mode of surface shedding may play an important role in recovery from damage on barren grounds where bottom feeders are abundant.
Asterina pectinifera - Corallinales - Lithophyllum yessoense - regeneration - sea star - sloughing
 

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
This is an Asterina. Number of arms and coloration are not diagnostic, and even seastar experts would have trouble identifying them to species.
As for the link, hmmm. I guess you are right there
and I won't even complain about being asked to change it.
Let me quote

I like it, "do as I do AND say" Kudos!
 

renogaw

Active Member
tsk tsk, copywrite infringement!!!
1journeyman says you're supposed to paraphrase, not copy verbatim!!! one more infraction... :p
 

koi lady

Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
tsk tsk, copywrite infringement!!!
1journeyman says you're supposed to paraphrase, not copy verbatim!!! one more infraction... :p
Now I thought that if you quote and give credit to the person you are quoting that there is no problem. That is how it is done in all the college papers I had to write.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
tsk tsk, copywrite infringement!!!
1journeyman says you're supposed to paraphrase, not copy verbatim!!! one more infraction... :p

Actually, no, the work is properly and completely cited. It is not copyright infringement if you properly cite the work.

The problem is if you cut and paste someone's work, don't credit them, and basically can't post the link where you got it. This has been done extensively on another forum here and really is not appropriate in the slightest. They are from hobby mags and sites, and so a link can't be posted. But the article are often pasted completely, and often without even putting it in quotes to indicate it is not their work.
 

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
right, but a full asterina should have 6 legs. this looks like a full star fish, with 5 legs.
also, i've seen asterinas that actually eat the skin off of sps corals and turn the same color as the sps coral, so if it's eating coralline algae, i'd be a little wary of it.

They don't "become" predatory. If it is eating coralline, it won't stumble on an SPS and decide to eat it. So just because you have one that eats coralline, it doesn't mean it will be a problem at all.
I have lots of this particular type (larger 5 armed) and have no SPS...I think it is fine, personally.
 

autofreak44

Active Member
haha cool... i am thinking of moving him into my 10 gallon nano with some larger crabs and stuff... he is cool and i want to keep him, is he gonna get eaten if i put him in with crabs and other stars? (i only have 1 large crab and 1 snail in the tank now)
 

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by autofreak44
haha cool... i am thinking of moving him into my 10 gallon nano with some larger crabs and stuff... he is cool and i want to keep him, is he gonna get eaten if i put him in with crabs and other stars? (i only have 1 large crab and 1 snail in the tank now)

Define "larger" crabs
 
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