Asterina Star

[Mickle]

Hello,

I was wondering if there was a way to identify which Asterina starfish eat coral polyps? I read there was a way to tell them apart? I have some Palys and just broke down the rock they were on to make it smaller then this guy appeared. I've attached him to the glass to keep an eye on him.

Thanks!

-Mick

 

[AcroNem]

There are 28 species (last I checked) in the Genus Aquilonastra (formerly known as Asterina) and we usually only see a couple species in our systems and rarely see predatory species. Some people will monitor to see if they're benign and some will eradicate them no matter what. It's up to you.

 

[Gonebad395]

Hi I’ve found that some will say the dark ones some will say the white ones and some will say all of them along with others that will say none of them. Watch the tank close and make your own decision. In my tank I didn’t want them at all or to take the chance so at first I picked them out with a sewing needle. When I realized that i was losing I bought a harliqune shrimp and lucky enough in about 1 month I was completely free of them. My lfs took the shrimp back for in store credit it was win win.

 

[Mickle]

There are 28 species (last I checked) in the Genus Aquilonastra (formerly known as Asterina) and we usually only see a couple species in our systems and rarely see predatory species. Some people will monitor to see if they're benign and some will eradicate them no matter what. It's up to you.

Hi I’ve found that some will say the dark ones some will say the white ones and some will say all of them along with others that will say none of them. Watch the tank close and make your own decision. In my tank I didn’t want them at all or to take the chance so at first I picked them out with a sewing needle. When I realized that i was losing I bought a harliqune shrimp and lucky enough in about 1 month I was completely free of them. My lfs took the shrimp back for in store credit it was win win.

Thank you! I think I might just keep it, I have plenty of algae so hopefully it doesn't go for any corals. Thank you all again!

 

[HB AL]

I have the white ones, about a year ago they started multiplying like mad for some reason and they didn’t eat any corals and I have a lot of different corals, but did literally clear my rocks of most of my purple coraline, then I noticed red coraline growing as they eradicated the purple but they didn’t eat the red. I woulda bought a harlequin shrimp to eat them up but my Sargassum, bluejaw and clown trigger woulda eaten the shrimp. Fast forward to a couple months ago and they slowly died off I assume since they ran out of the purple coraline to keep there population up. There are still some in the tank but nothing even close to what it was and the purple coraline is now coming back quick. They didn’t really bug me and the bigger ones with multiple legs were kinda cool, I had one with 9 arms and my daughter would tell me “ hey dad 9 Arm is on the glass” ya she named a starfish

 

[DSC reef]

I'd vote on removing them. There are to many species with to little information on what's bad or good. FWIW, we've personally witnessed light and dark asterinas chowing down on zoas.

 

[KJ]

Agree with @DSC reef .

 

[Halal Hotdog]

To my knowledge all the ones we have in the aquarium hobby reproduce very quickly and need a constant food source. Most posts I have read showed them eating coraline. Others have said they become more predatory to corals once the coraline starts running low. Either way I am a fan of eradicating them. Both my clown trigger and harlequin tusk have eaten these guys to extinction. Most people do not trust triggers in a reef system with justifiable cause. Harlequin tusks are beautiful fish that will absolutely eat these guys, but will go after most invertebrates.