six tentacle star fish

[Feddish]

I found a star fish that is about the size of the head of a plastic thumb tac in my reef tank. It has six legs instead of five, is this a certian species, of just a freak of nature. Also are many of the star fish reef safe? He is light beige and it looks like he may little brown speckles on him, and not like a brittle his legs are short. Now he just went wandering and I dont know if I will ever find him again, unless he goes or starts to climb the glass again. It's great my tank has been set up for about a month now, moved from a 12 gal nano tank to a 75, and I am finding all kinds of weird things.

[greg97527]

from what you described i am 99% positive these are the little starfish that eat corals. get rid of him and anyothers you find. here is a link for you to look at.

http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html

[Iconz]

hmm, never seen those before.. Welcome to CR btw, Feddish!

[JustDavidP]

Argh!! the coral eating stars???

It's probably a harmless asterina star fish. I have TONS of them. My buddy has them too, but finds them to be an eyesore. So, his harlequin shrimp eats them.

some info: http://www.reefreaders.com/content/view/48/

Dave

[Sparky]

Yep I have them too!!! Have not had any problems