Asterina Starfish eats sponge :o

[eggplantparrot]

so i have a few white asterina starfishes in my tank as hitchhikers, and they have been behaving themselves up til now, but i have captured some pictures of one eating my hitchhiking pink sponge. evidence below:

this picture shows a blob of the pink sponge i have, there are more on the other side of the rock.

i think this sponge came from the rock as it only grows on it. i brushed the rock really well with a toothbrush when i bought it, but i guess some lived in the pores.

back side of same rock showing sponge

the culprit caught red handed

as you can see, there is a white thing where the sponge used to be, and you can still see some of the pink above the white starfish in the reflection on the bottom.

i had seen this starfish on that spot for a couple of days now without moving, and forgot that there was a sponge growing at that spot, now i know why the star has not moved.

be careful with these starfish!

 

[Retro Reefer]

I pull them out whenever I see them but they can reproduce like mad so you probably have more than you think.. they also eat zoanthids

 

[eggplantparrot]

fortunately my zoas have been safe, and i think i read only the colored ones eat corals?

 

[eggplantparrot]

Update: found another star at the same spot today! Im throwing them in my sump when i catch them now.

 

[DSC reef]

fortunately my zoas have been safe, and i think i read only the colored ones eat corals?

I believe this is a myth, in our old 75 we witnessed all kinds of colored and patterned asterina wrap around and slowly dissolve utter chaos zoas.

 

[eggplantparrot]

I believe this is a myth, in our old 75 we witnessed all kinds of colored and patterned asterina wrap around and slowly dissolve utter chaos zoas.

Well thats not good. my utter chaos is my favourite right now even though it looks a little haggard. I hope they keep going to that sponge rock so i can throw them in the sump then lol

 

[DSC reef]

Well thats not good. my utter chaos is my favourite right now even though it looks a little haggard. I hope they keep going to that sponge rock so i can throw them in the sump then lol

Not trying to scare you, lol. They did decimate a nice colony though. My wife would literally pull out 30 to 50 asterinas every morning. Finally got a harlequin and after a month they were gone and the utter chaos made a great comeback.