Need to id this starfish or slug

Frenchfrog · Jan 20, 2022

I think I will need your help with these new neighbors.

I call Google and have a beer while searching but I can't find what kind of starfish or slug it is.

I only have one guy here because the other one was too shy for a photo shoot. Also these 2 pictures are the best I can take due to the size

Thanks for helping me

bradleym · Jan 20, 2022

That would be an asterina starfish.

Gtinnel · Jan 20, 2022

bradleym said:
That would be an asterina starfish.

This ^^^^

damsels are not mean · Jan 20, 2022

That is an interesting asterina mine are mostly brown and rocky textured they often blend right in with LR and frag plugs

MaxTremors · Jan 20, 2022

Commonly referred to as ‘asterina’ stars but not actually in the asterina genus. They are actually Aquilonastra, they are harmless detritivores. Some people swear up and down that some eat corals, but in 20+ years I’ve never seen it and no one has ever been able to produce evidence (which you would think would be fairly easy considering how common they are). I’ve had them (probably 4-5 different species) in every reef tank I’ve ever owned and I’ve never seen them or even suspected them of eating corals. They can explode in population if you overfeed or have high nutrients (nuisance algae).

damsels are not mean · Jan 21, 2022

MaxTremors said:
Commonly referred to as ‘asterina’ stars but not actually in the asterina genus. They are actually Aquilonastra, they are harmless detritivores. Some people swear up and down that some eat corals, but in 20+ years I’ve never seen it and no one has ever been able to produce evidence (which you would think would be fairly easy considering how common they are).

I'm willing to bet somebody's coral died or receded, then biofilm grew on the skeleton and the stars grazed. They come home to their coral losing tissue and the stars "eating" it. This happens with lots of things that hitchhike.

monkeyCmonkeyDo · Jan 21, 2022

No they are a pest. They do multiply and I've had them sit on zoas in the past.
Hths
D

minus9 · Jan 21, 2022

Aquilonastra will often be found grazing algae, even film algae that can grow on certain zoathus, palythoa and corals like leathers. I’ve never witnessed them consuming coral, but that’s not to say there aren’t species that so. In the days of live rock, we would have a host of mysterious hitchhikers, but today most of those travelers have gone away.