Something massacred my serpent star

[JohDwyer]

I woke up to legs everywhere. The central disk now has only nubs. Not one leg was left attached. Each leg was broken into multiple segments and left on the sand bed. What could have done this? I can't tell if there was any part of it consumed. That would require building a corpse puzzle and sifting my sandbed. Im not turning the tank into a CSI reboot.

-I want to know if this is predictable behavior of any of my tank residents or do I have some form of a deadly hitchhiker.

-I have a clown, a bangaii, a melanarus (my personal suspect), blue-legged hermits, a small YWG, and a yellow clown gobi, nassarius, and multiple species of herbivorous snails.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Could it have been sucked into a circulation pump?

 

[blaxsun]

They will occasionally get a bacterial infection, and to save themselves they will start dropping legs. Sometimes this works and the infection stops and the legs regrow; other times the infection reaches the center and then it's toast. This is probably the likely scenario for your serpent star - especially if you've had it for some time.

 

[landlubber]

i'm with OP on the wrasse. mine enjoys fresh hermit crab every few days