I have a serpent brittle star that I found a day ago with a couple of gashes and I can't think of anything in my tank that could have done this damage.
I doubt these have a bearing but the basics:
The tank has bee up for about 6 months.
It's a 40 gallon breeder with a 10 gallon sump holding a Brightwell BioPlate, a Tunze 9002 skimmer pulling fairly wet skimmate and a refugium with some rubble, Caulerpa and some hair algae (didn't get it all off the LR and it's growing; none in the 40 gallon). Flow is around 250 GPH. A couple of small pumps on one end add alternating flow (it's set up as a peninsula).
Water chemistry, as much as I can test, is within recommended ranges. So is temperature now that I have (in the last couple of months) a True-Temp heater in the sump with the sensor in the tank. Previously the tank was dropping to about 73 during the night.
Lighting is lower than I want, using an old Coralife 3' dual compact fluorescent (1 Actinic, 1 day - don't remember the K).
Tankmates:
Condy anemone
Long tentacle anemone (doesn't want to stay put though it seems to keep going back to the same spot)
Mini carpet anemone
long polyp toadstool
Devil's hand leather
some mushrooms
Monti Cap piece (a bit large to be called a frag)
Black brittle star (bristled, not serpent)
Halloween Hermit (living in about 1-1/2" shell; would that be medium sized?)
two emerald crabs (about dime and nickle sized including legs)
nassarius snails, blue-leg hermits, etc CUC
Hitchhikers I've seen: stomatella snails, Asterina stars, spaghetti worms, bristle worms (1" or so, pink), pods
Just about everything is visibly growing including the Monti (to my pleasant surprise).
So yesterday morning I see this gash in the serpent star body between two legs. It's alive and still moving all it's legs, including the one most effected. When I take it out (to put in a shallow dish with tank water so I can look closer) it even grabs the nearest rock. Turning it over I see a second similar gash 2 legs away. It's now still alive; I moved it to the refugium.
I can't think of any tankmate that could do this much damage without the star getting away or defending itself. Do anemone tentacle stings do damage? The emerald crabs' claws don't look shaped right and they're really small. The Halloween hermit claws are like bolt-cutters in shape but only about 1/8".
Or is it splitting in asexual reproduction?
Thanks for any help!
I doubt these have a bearing but the basics:
The tank has bee up for about 6 months.
It's a 40 gallon breeder with a 10 gallon sump holding a Brightwell BioPlate, a Tunze 9002 skimmer pulling fairly wet skimmate and a refugium with some rubble, Caulerpa and some hair algae (didn't get it all off the LR and it's growing; none in the 40 gallon). Flow is around 250 GPH. A couple of small pumps on one end add alternating flow (it's set up as a peninsula).
Water chemistry, as much as I can test, is within recommended ranges. So is temperature now that I have (in the last couple of months) a True-Temp heater in the sump with the sensor in the tank. Previously the tank was dropping to about 73 during the night.
Lighting is lower than I want, using an old Coralife 3' dual compact fluorescent (1 Actinic, 1 day - don't remember the K).
Tankmates:
Condy anemone
Long tentacle anemone (doesn't want to stay put though it seems to keep going back to the same spot)
Mini carpet anemone
long polyp toadstool
Devil's hand leather
some mushrooms
Monti Cap piece (a bit large to be called a frag)
Black brittle star (bristled, not serpent)
Halloween Hermit (living in about 1-1/2" shell; would that be medium sized?)
two emerald crabs (about dime and nickle sized including legs)
nassarius snails, blue-leg hermits, etc CUC
Hitchhikers I've seen: stomatella snails, Asterina stars, spaghetti worms, bristle worms (1" or so, pink), pods
Just about everything is visibly growing including the Monti (to my pleasant surprise).
So yesterday morning I see this gash in the serpent star body between two legs. It's alive and still moving all it's legs, including the one most effected. When I take it out (to put in a shallow dish with tank water so I can look closer) it even grabs the nearest rock. Turning it over I see a second similar gash 2 legs away. It's now still alive; I moved it to the refugium.
I can't think of any tankmate that could do this much damage without the star getting away or defending itself. Do anemone tentacle stings do damage? The emerald crabs' claws don't look shaped right and they're really small. The Halloween hermit claws are like bolt-cutters in shape but only about 1/8".
Or is it splitting in asexual reproduction?
Thanks for any help!
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