Could anyone ID this?

[samorton93]

Came in on a candy cane coral is it reef safe

 

[samorton93]

 

[Tahoe61]

Asternia star, most are harmless, rarely do you come across the zoanthid eating variety. The issue is usually populations can become invasive.

 

[CastAway]

I remove every one I can, every time I see one. Always have. Although they persist for me, they're in small numbers (at least what I see).

Although Ive seen them literally on my Zoas, I suspect they're eating micro algae, and not the Zoa tissue. Nonetheless.....

 

[Myka]

I always remove them too - they can get to plague populations quickly. Many will consume coralline algae too, and I've seen them take a tank with beautiful purple rock to white rock in just a few weeks. The ones that get big and have a dark grey/greenish hue to the center are the ones usually associated with coral predation.