Chocolate chip starfish baby

[swish0332]

Hello everyone. I am new to reef2reef and I am only a little over a year into my saltwater obsession. A few months back I picked up a chocolate chip starfish, and today I noticed a baby starfish making his way out of my rockwork. It looks like a baby chocolate chip to me, but the only asexual reproduction of these that i read about involved pieces of the parents body breaking off. If anyone has any additional info I would love to hear it.

 

[sawdonkey]

That is an asterina starfish, not a chocolate chip. They are commonly brought in as hitchhikers. They shouldn't cause problems.

 

[Maritimer]

Yours is a bit unusual in having five arms - most of the ones I've seen have six, and often three large ones and three small. Asterina _do_ reproduce asexually, by ripping themselves in half.

~Bruce

 

[swish0332]

I do have asternia in that tank and my otherstereo as well. This guy's is over an inch long tip to tip and perfectly shaped. He also moves very fast across my tank, unlike my asternia. Which is why I think it is a chocolate chip. He also hate chip pattern in the middle. I will try to get a better picture when the lights come on

 

[Bdog4u2]

If that's an asternia it's the most perfectly shaped one I've ever seen.
Maybe it's a hitchhiker starfish and just got big enough to venture out.

 

[swish0332]

Here are two more pictures

 

[cloak]

My guess would be an Asterina star as well.

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitch Hikers > Starfish)

 

[Maritimer]

I'll grant that it doesn't look much like most of the Asterinas I've seen!

All I can suggest is to watch it carefully - it may not be entirely reef-safe.

~Bruce, who thinks it's a cool-looking critter, and would give it the benefit of the doubt ... even if only in the refugium.

 

[swish0332]

Luckily it's in my fowlr tank so not too much to worry about at least with corals. He is a fast little bugger. I'm excited to see how he turns out. Like I said he is over an inch long which I know is at the max of asternias. Having no live rock or corals too hitch on to get into the tank makes him even more of a mystery to me.

 

[sawdonkey]

I have tons of these in my tank. They are often perfectly shaped like this one. Sometimes they are just one arm only, sometime 2,3,4,etc arms.

I'm fairly confident this is asterina.

 

[Clayjay144]

If yo used live sand I have heard of hitchhikers being in there sometimes.

 

[ShirLow]

I have a number of these Asterina starfish and my live and let live policy turned round to bite me in the @#m, I’d acquired two nice little Birds Nest sps and they were growing well, then a couple of days ago one was dead bleached and gone, on closer examination it had some of the little Asterina starfish, on it, so now it’s War, I’m considering a Harlequin Shrimp, but I know when they have Eaten all the little Stars they starve to Death, so I’m looking into breeding the Asterina‘S in a little Aquarium just to feed the Hero Harlequin’s, any advice welcome, Shirl.