Odd mini star on dead SPS
 

Wondering if anyone could help me ID this star fish. And also to see if it was or is the cause of my wonderful colonies death

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ddstarfish.jpg

Thanks
J

I vote guilty by association..

Looks like an asterinaa sp. star. Some species are safe but others are known to feed on caral tissue. They multiply by fission (rip themselves in half) and can sometimes reach plague proportions. I believe the shorter legged ones like yours are BAD.

I agree with chandigz they are Asterina stars. I believe they will eat the dying tissue of a coral. I have read on RC that they were suspicious of some types eating SPS tissue. It was in the SPS section but can't get it located with a search because it is not working right now.

Jason, while it may not be good, I'm not sure they could do that type of damage unless there were lots of them.

Not likely the cause of my major issue. but just wanted to know if anyone knew what it was

J

That's sad :( What kind of SPS was it?

multihued acro
 

hi jason sorry about your loss, couldn't really id star either. now i remember i p/u that purple, blue, purple/blue tipped acro from you that my friend yesterday positively stated is an abnormality. do you have name for this acro that's doing extremely well in my tank.

Does the search function ever work on RC? Sorry bout the loss. I know I would now be prying all my sps off the rock and examining them.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...e+Search&meta=

Little known google trick, refine your search by website. :lol:

Try googling 'asterina stars site:reefcentral.com' - without the quotes