starfish multiplied.

[tonyg]

I found a couple of starfish tagalongs a few months back. The best i can tell they are some sort of brittle or serpent star. The biggest is about an inch and a half. They all seem to have one or two longer tentacles on one side, then shorter ones on the other. They are all tentacle with a very small "middle." They are mostly dark grey, almost black with lighter grey bands along their very spiky arms.

At first there were two, now theres at least 4. Is there anything i need to look for to be sure these guys aren't a threat? I don't mind them as long as they are harmless and wont multiply out of control or grow too large. There is a Chinese restaurant with a big reef tank in my town, they have a starfish that looks just like these only its HUGE! It's tentacles are easily 10-12 inches. It would be awful if one of mine got that big.

Any suggestions/info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ErinCahir]

Those sound like mini brittle stars. A great hitchhiker, but they'll stay tiny.

 

[Salty B]

+1...good little guys. There is probably more than 4 in there. A year from now you will see legs sticking out from everywhere. If you're lucky, you might catch them in a spawning event. I've seen it a few times and it's wicked neat to watch. Just a little gross to think I stuck my hands in there...lol

 

[AdamC]

I never get so lucky!

 

[Salty B]

It's pretty cool! They all come out at once into full view and make their way up the rock work.

They all try to get as high as they can. Climbing to the top of my kenya trees and zoa colony. When they are all in position, they prop their buts up high and cloud the tank up lol. Here is them just before they spurted.

And here is one with its but up.

After taking pics I tried to get a vid but the batteries died after 10 seconds but I'll put it up in a minute.

 

[Salty B]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sMZdrzi_YA[/ame]

 

[tonyg]

WOW! That's awesome! Not too mention gross. How often do they do that? I very seldom see more than some stray tentacles, but those look exactly like the ones i've found in my tank.

 

[Salty B]

I've seen it 3 times in 3 years. But the last 2 times were only a couple months apart. The last 2 times were right after water changes, coincidence, I have no idea. Gross, yeah it makes the skimmer go crazy lol. Normally all you see are legs. I was trying to take a vid of mysis shrimp running around but I kept staring at the star legs :shock:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVRfKWb41GA]micro brittle star and pods - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Bifferwine]

You would be surprised at how many you have hiding in your rocks. Many years ago, I accidentally overdosed my tank on kalk. The starfish were the first type of livestock affected (and were the worst affected). They immediately came crawling out of the rockwork and fell down to the sand to die. I had no idea I had so many in my tank! It was a brittle star holocaust. :(

 

[Salty B]

Thats crazy!

 

[Bifferwine]

It was pretty horrific!

 

[BryanS]

Will the bigger brittle stars multiply like that too or is it just the minis?

 

[Bifferwine]

Just the minis, in my experience. The larger brittle stars can multiply if they lose limbs and the limbs are connected to part of the oral disc.

 

[BryanS]

thanks biff was just curious because I have never noticed my brittle stars doing that