New critter! Good or bad?

[Flipsquad81]

It's gray and definitely has some little feelers coming out of it. Moving really slow. I noticed a bunch of white spots the other day. Could it be a baby snail? Nothing new has been added to the tank except two peppermint shrimp, that i was told were pregnant... or full of eggs. I took a little video zoomed in 10x's. Any feedback appreciated!

 

[Euphyllia97]

Can’t see the video... pics please?

 

[Flipsquad81]

Can’t see the video... pics please?

 

[Euphyllia97]

Hmmm I can’t eqsily ID the critter as it looks like part of an asterina to me in the pic. The white dots however seem to me like spirorbids.

 

[Flipsquad81]

Hmmm I can’t eqsily ID the critter as it looks like part of an asterina to me in the pic. The white dots however seem to me like spirorbids.

Caught it... looks like a little starfish that's been chewed on by my fish...

 

[NHgoalstop]

Asterina?

 

[Flipsquad81]

Asterina?

Is that what this chewed up starfish was? Where do these bloody things come from?!

 

[Euphyllia97]

Is that what this chewed up starfish was? Where do these bloody things come from?!

Yep asterina starfish like I suspected earlier! They actually drop their arms and from eqch arm a new individual is created. They are considered a pest as they can eat zoanthids when they are present in huge amounts. I would leave it out of the tank as they multiply quickly.

keep in mind if you do get an outbreak there are some inverts who eat them like peppermintshrimps.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Asterina star and not welcomed in any of my tanks. They eat algae but also eat zoa. I had a colony of zoa nearly wiped out because of them.

 

[Flipsquad81]

Yep asterina starfish like I suspected earlier! They actually drop their arms and from eqch arm a new individual is created. They are considered a pest as they can eat zoanthids when they are present in huge amounts. I would leave it out of the tank as they multiply quickly.

keep in mind if you do get an outbreak there are some inverts who eat them like peppermintshrimps.

I've got a couple peppermint shrimp... after i found that half star i found his other half on the bottom of the tank being bounced back and forth between the 2 peppermint shrimp. You've got a good eye! Thank you!

 

[Flipsquad81]

Asterina star and not welcomed in any of my tanks. They eat algae but also eat zoa. I had a colony of zoa nearly wiped out because of them.

This is the 1st I've found and he is gone bye bye. I was reading up on them and sounds like some ppl don't mind them. If i didn't put it in my tank, i generally try to get it out of my tank.