I believe Linkia Starfish eat sponges

[Miami Reef]

I‘ve had my big, blue linkia for a few months, and it seems to be doing well so far.

I had this opaque, webby sponge growing on the base of an acropora coral. Today, the blue linkia starfish sat on top of it, and now the sponge is completely gone.

I’m not sure if this means anything, but it’s an observation.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I‘ve had my big, blue linkia for a few months, and it seems to be doing well so far.

I had this opaque, webby sponge growing on the base of an acropora coral. Today, the blue linkia starfish sat on top of it, and now the sponge is completely gone.

I’m not sure if this means anything, but it’s an observation.

Yeah, a lot of starfish (especially biofilm eating stars) will eat sponges too, and there's a good deal of speculation that if you could provide enough sponges (that aren't chemically defended against echinoderms) that you might be able to keep a starfish long term; but providing enough sponges to test this would be either extremely expensive or difficult:

(biofilms are typically a mix of bacteria, cyanobacteria, diatoms, microalgae, fungi, etc.)

many sponges are quite rich in biofilm forming microbes, so it's not really a surprise that many biofilm eating starfish are known to eat sponges).

Edit: and the nutritional value of a sponge to the star may vary depending on species, diet, etc., so even if the star eats the sponge, there's no guarantee it would provide it with the proper nutrition to keep the star long term.

 

[LadAShark]

I‘ve had my big, blue linkia for a few months, and it seems to be doing well so far.

I had this opaque, webby sponge growing on the base of an acropora coral. Today, the blue linkia starfish sat on top of it, and now the sponge is completely gone.

I’m not sure if this means anything, but it’s an observation.

All starfish are predators of some sort. Brittle stars, the echinoderm people see as relatively safe, are not starfish.

Urchins may also eat sponges, btw.

Speaking of things you don't expect, I caught my one spot foxface gobbling up some micro brittle stars, so there's that.

 

[LadAShark]

Yeah, a lot of starfish (especially biofilm eating stars) will eat sponges too, and there's a good deal of speculation that if you could provide enough sponges (that aren't chemically defended against echinoderms) that you might be able to keep a starfish long term; but providing enough sponges to test this would be either extremely expensive or difficult:


Edit: and the nutritional value of a sponge to the star may vary depending on species, diet, etc., so even if the star eats the sponge, there's no guarantee it would provide it with the proper nutrition to keep the star long term.

Sponges themselves aren't that far off from being a biofilm themselves considering how much they promote bacterial growth.