Found a weird starfish

JedClampett · Nov 28, 2015

It's not like the little white ones with 4 feet. This one has 5. should I take him out

bevo5 · Nov 28, 2015

Asterina. They can be all sorts of fun shapes and sizes. The arguments for keeping and removing them are well documented on the web. I've decided it's more of a personal choice. Most likely they don't harm anything, but people have had issues with a few types.

Most people remove them. I've been taking out any I see.

Berlibee · Nov 28, 2015

I've many of these, no problems yet. What sort of problem people reported?

JedClampett · Nov 28, 2015

I just threw it in the refugium, if I see any again I'll take it out

Oldsalt01 · Nov 28, 2015

Possibly Asterina? Hard to tell the size from the foto. I've not seen one much bigger than a 1/8". I've heard mixed stories about them, and do know they reproduce by division. Some say they all eat corals, some say only the colored ones do and that the white or grey ones are reef safe. I had two in my 14g that came in on a trochus shell and got rid of them just to be safe. Strictly your call. They do add biodiversity. They also reproduce fairly quickly if the water params are good.

bevo5 · Nov 28, 2015

I'm going through an explosion of them in my biocube. I remove a few everyday. I might get a harlequin shrimp but it would be tough to catch it later to remove.