Asterina starfish is a pest! Attacking fish!

[vdubers]

So I have a large population of asterina stars. I appreciate some people have no problem with them and actually value them as part of their cleanup crew. I’ve noticed them eating my Zoa’s and I’ve been doing some manual removal but never thought they would pose a risk to fish.

Checked the tank this morning to find one latched to the foxface. I’ve added a video of this as well as pictures. The fox face got it off but it left a nasty bite mark. I had noticed these before but assumed it was maybe a clown nipping it or something.

Nothing wrong with the foxface eating fine and swimming fine doing normal foxface things so it’s not like it’s weak and the asterina took advantage. I think it just snuck on it when it was sleeping overnight.

Anybody else seen this before with asterina’s?

Think I need to get myself a harlequin shrimp!

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have a large population of asterina stars. I appreciate some people have no problem with them and actually value them as part of their cleanup crew. I’ve noticed them eating my Zoa’s and I’ve been doing some manual removal but never thought they would pose a risk to fish.

Checked the tank this morning to find one latched to the foxface. I’ve added a video of this as well as pictures. The fox face got it off but it left a nasty bite mark. I had noticed these before but assumed it was maybe a clown nipping it or something.

Nothing wrong with the foxface eating fine and swimming fine doing normal foxface things so it’s not like it’s weak and the asterina took advantage. I think it just snuck on it when it was sleeping overnight.

Anybody else seen this before with asterina’s?

Think I need to get myself a harlequin shrimp!

First ive seen this and likely landed on fish during its sleep phase. A pest they are indeed

 

[vdubers]

First ive seen this and likely landed on fish during its sleep phase. A pest they are indeed

Yeah that seems likely. I’m not even sure I can get a harlequin shrimp as I have a boxer shrimp and fire shrimp along with two 4-5inch wrasse but might have to give it a go. Manual removal is all well and good but there is always a few left over in crevices etc. I will try and at least get on it more to knock down the population.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah that seems likely. I’m not even sure I can get a harlequin shrimp as I have a boxer shrimp and fire shrimp along with two 4-5inch wrasse but might have to give it a go. Manual removal is all well and good but there is always a few left over in crevices etc. I will try and at least get on it more to knock down the population.

I have manually removed using a 2” net. Eventually I had them all gone but rook a long time- this tests your patience

 

[gbroadbridge]

So I have a large population of asterina stars. I appreciate some people have no problem with them and actually value them as part of their cleanup crew. I’ve noticed them eating my Zoa’s and I’ve been doing some manual removal but never thought they would pose a risk to fish.

Checked the tank this morning to find one latched to the foxface. I’ve added a video of this as well as pictures. The fox face got it off but it left a nasty bite mark. I had noticed these before but assumed it was maybe a clown nipping it or something.

Nothing wrong with the foxface eating fine and swimming fine doing normal foxface things so it’s not like it’s weak and the asterina took advantage. I think it just snuck on it when it was sleeping overnight.

Anybody else seen this before with asterina’s?

Think I need to get myself a harlequin shrimp!

Wow!

I thought the title was a joke until I saw the photo.

Never heard of this before.

 

[vdubers]

I have manually removed using a 2” net. Eventually I had them all gone but rook a long time- this tests your patience

I have these long tweezers that I use. A lot of them for me are on the underside of rocks so the tweezers work well it just takes along time and is messy with my arm going in and out 100s of times. Needs to be done though. I can give or take the Zoa’s but I don’t want my fish having open wounds.

 

[vdubers]

Wow!

I thought the title was a joke until I saw the photo.

Never heard of this before.

To be fair me putting attacking in the title was a bit dramatic but damage has definitely been done to the fox face!

 

[Boreas_SA]

Can always try Nardao starfish after you've removed as much as you can manually, they also eat other food besides asterinas, so easier to maintain long term than harlequin shrimp.

 

[vdubers]

Can always try Nardao starfish after you've removed as much as you can manually, they also eat other food besides asterinas, so easier to maintain long term than harlequin shrimp.

I hadn’t heard of them are they reef safe? I’ve actually wanted to get a starfish but asterinas have put me off. I don’t want to get a nardoa only to find I now have no asterinas but a larger coral muncher

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Nothing wrong with the foxface eating fine and swimming fine doing normal foxface things so it’s not like it’s weak and the asterina took advantage. I think it just snuck on it when it was sleeping overnight.

Anybody else seen this before with asterina’s?

Very interesting behavior to see - I've see these stars (Aquilonastra starfish; known in the hobby as Asterina starfish) feed on seahorses before, but seahorses are pretty much sessile and constantly hooked on to something the stars can climb up. This is the first I've seen one a regular fish though.

I hadn’t heard of them are they reef safe? I’ve actually wanted to get a starfish but asterinas have put me off. I don’t want to get a nardoa only to find I now have no asterinas but a larger coral muncher

They are reef-safe, yes - Nardoas, Linckias, Chocolate Chips stars, etc. will all eat Aquilonastra stars; they don't eat them anywhere near as quickly as harlequin shrimp, though, so even with a small number of Aquilonastra/a small tank, I would expect to see Aquilonastra stars for a few months with one if these other stars preying on them.

That said, I can't recommend getting another starfish (at least not a reef-safe one) to eat then at this point, as the reef-safe ones are biofilm-feeders and we can't meet their nutritional needs (the Aquilonastra help and can keep the stars alive for longer than typical, but once they're gone the star will slowly starve). For some in-depth reading on this, see my post in the link below:

A Challenge to Anti Linckia-ism

I hear a lot of folks say we shouldn’t keep Linckia stars because they starve to death or we don’t know how to keep them alive and they just die within a year or so. I decided to read up on the subject and found a peer reviewed scientific article which described the lifecycle of these stars...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Tamberav]

I have seen a fox face with an aiptasia on the side of it.

What’s with fox face picking up little random pests

 

[vdubers]

Very interesting behavior to see - I've see these stars (Aquilonastra starfish; known in the hobby as Asterina starfish) feed on seahorses before, but seahorses are pretty much sessile and constantly hooked on to something the stars can climb up. This is the first I've seen one a regular fish though.

They are reef-safe, yes - Nardoas, Linckias, Chocolate Chips stars, etc. will all eat Aquilonastra stars; they don't eat them anywhere near as quickly as harlequin shrimp, though, so even with a small number of Aquilonastra/a small tank, I would expect to see Aquilonastra stars for a few months with one if these other stars preying on them.

That said, I can't recommend getting another starfish (at least not a reef-safe one) to eat then at this point, as the reef-safe ones are biofilm-feeders and we can't meet their nutritional needs (the Aquilonastra help and can keep the stars alive for longer than typical, but once they're gone the star will slowly starve). For some in-depth reading on this, see my post in the link below:

A Challenge to Anti Linckia-ism

I hear a lot of folks say we shouldn’t keep Linckia stars because they starve to death or we don’t know how to keep them alive and they just die within a year or so. I decided to read up on the subject and found a peer reviewed scientific article which described the lifecycle of these stars...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for the feedback maybe a starfish isn’t a great choice then. I have a 7ft tank but my mrs had a starfish in her tank before and said how sad it was to see it slowly wither away. Will read through the other thread later though.

 

[vdubers]

I have seen a fox face with an aiptasia on the side of it.

What’s with fox face picking up little random pests

Maybe they are such sound sleepers that little pests can take advantage? I know if I shine a light into my tank at night the fox face just sits there all camouflaged thinking it’s invisible whereas my regal tang flaps about trying to get even deeper into the crevice he is clearly too big for .