Starfish Id Please

[Jessica13]

Hi,

I was given a starfish today by someone i know from another forum. She wasn't sure exactly what it was (said maybe a pincushion starfish??) and couldn't find it in any books! Does anybody here know what type of starfish it is and what i should be feeding it? I probably should have asked what she was feeding it when i picked it up but i forgot

The pics aren't great as he's still in the bag now acclimatising very slowly. But they show both 'sides' of him He's all squashed up though - He keeps sticking creepy looking tentacles out

Anyone know what he is?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Did you look on wetwebmedia.com?

 

[Jessica13]

No, i've never heard of it

 

[richard t]

Look's like a Cushion Star to me.

They can be destuctive in reef tanks, feeding on polyps and stony corals.
If you you have corals its probably not for you.

If you don't have corals it will accept mussel and fish fleash.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Sounds like youve already got an ID but wetwebmedia.com has TONS of info, you can even do a search on the site and have tons of results and ask questions on IDs or anything else.

 

[bunjiweb]

It wont survive in your reef I suggest you take it to Phil @ Real Reefs and let him try and help it survive. You realise that alot of starfishes gradually starve to death in peoples tanks, especially small ones as there simply isnt enough algae and micro-organisms for the starfish to graze apon. It needs to be able to graze for most of the day and if it runs out it will starve, start to fall apart and possibly take your tank down the drain with it.

Ben

 

[Jessica13]

Real Reefs isn't open until tomorrow. I will give him a ring and ask him what i should/shouldn't be doing with it. I dont really want to get rid of it as i was planning to buy a starfish after my exams (end of this month) anyway so seems stupid to give this one away and buy another Everything i've read seems to agree that they can live on mussel, excess fish food and shrimp food and i think he has been eating the bits of mussel i've been giving him but im not entirely sure how they eat He keeps moving onto the food, although he's not moving all that much but it seems they can take a while to settle into their new tanks.. But if Phil says its not suitable for my tank and has one that is that he's willing to swap/exchange then i'll get that one

I accidently touched the starfish yesterday when i was removing some bubble algae stuff and he stung me or something - It really hurt Hope he's not poisonous

Edited to add another pic of him in the tank yesterday - he 'climbed' up the rock a bit yesterday then came back down to the glass to try and eat a snail last night Still no definate ID though, but i've just been looking up general pincushion starfish info

 

[bunjiweb]

Had a very lengthy discussion with him about starfish for small tanks a couple of weeks back and we came to the conclusion that no starfish apart from possibly the small banded serpent stars are suitable for small marine tanks because they are un-fussy scavengers. Other stars however have a much more selective diet and will need to be able to feed throughout the day in order for it not to do long term damage to them.

You would be better suited to an Urchin if you like them, although with these kinda inverts you have to be so picky for small tanks.

As for ID for the starfish, the closest described species you will find on the internet is Culcita novaeguineae. Said to be a snail eater that also eats bi-valves and corals. Look up the scientific name on Google and you should find the info you need.

Ben

 

[Jessica13]

Well, i went in to see him today and he said that the starfish should be fine in my tank and takes very little looking after As long as i provide him with plenty of food (bought him some cockles and more mussels today!) and make sure theres no big changes in ph or temp there should be no major problems

 

[bunjiweb]

I'm very surprised that he reccomended that you keep it. I hope you can feed it ok. Dare i say it he just didnt want to take it off you?

Ben

 

[Jessica13]

I didn't ask him to take it off me I just said that i'd be given it and wanted to know if it would be ok in my tank and what i should be doing with feeding and looking after it and he said it should be fine and told me what and how to feed it.

No offence, but i trust his opinion more than yours

 

[bunjiweb]

He owns a marine shop I don't, theres no reason not to trust his opinon, but you should take other peoples opinions on board. This starfish WON'T survive in your aquarium to anywhere near a degree than it would in the wild. If you don't mind it munching through your remaining corals and are prepared to keep your tank a fish-only system then it will do "OK". But unfortunately nearly all starfish kept in captivity do no better than "OK".

Ben

 

[Jessica13]

Well obviously its not going to do as well as it would in the wild, very few animals do.

Oh, and i have no corals now, just the clowns, crabs, snails and lots of live rock

 

[bunjiweb]

Thats ok then. Just keep an eye on your crabs and snails, it may even go for them if theres an easy chance.

Ben