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  #1  
Old 12/27/2007, 08:03 PM
Sk8r Sk8r is offline
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id possible on a mini brittle star? [no pix: they're tiny]

My specimen rocks came back from boarding at the lfs with a horde of little hitchers. Got a fleeting good look at one today as it got onto the glass [it had ridden a snail up, and the lights cut on].

gray and black striped. Very small central body relative to arm length, compared to other brittle stars. One arm a third more developed than any other arm. Lives in holes in rock, and sticks that arm out, I'll suppose, since you don't see all of them usually. Greatest single arm reach, little over an inch.

They're everywhere. I don't think they're a problem, probably good cleaners, but if I've got one in my 54g I've got a hundred or so.

Any observations on them? ID? Good guesses? It's-ok or start-worrying?
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  #2  
Old 12/28/2007, 12:05 AM
"Umm, fish?" "Umm, fish?" is offline
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You're probably not going to get an ID without pictures. I've never heard of any of them being a problem and I loved them in my system (before the teardown). It sounds like you have a species that reproduces by breaking (fission). Apparently, at least one of the minis is a brooder and doesn't reproduce by fission. But anyway, they'll spread pretty quickly depending on how much you feed.
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  #3  
Old 12/28/2007, 04:14 PM
Sk8r Sk8r is offline
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I used to have a ton of bristleworms: now I struggle to grow them, but I have these guys, so what you say is encouraging, Umm, fish?. Didn't think there was a likely downside, but when you have a bloom of something, you do kinda wonder if it is limited to detritus. If that's the case, they won't get out of hand. I'd like to capture a few and let them loose in my fuge. Maybe I can manage that by moving a rock down there, if they're safe.

Y'know how most everybody has at least one marine critter that just creeps them out? That they won't handle? Mine is, of course, brittle stars. I'll survive handily.
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"Make haste slowly." ---Augustus.

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  #4  
Old 12/28/2007, 04:53 PM
"Umm, fish?" "Umm, fish?" is offline
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They're mostly filter feeders, from what I can tell. They find someplace to hide and swing their legs in the current. I've had a coral juvenile settle right next to a star hidey hole, so they can't be too bad, right? Of course, I don't know how many of the coral larvae the star ate so one could settle....
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  #5  
Old 12/28/2007, 11:13 PM
NanoReefWanabe NanoReefWanabe is offline
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brittle stars are scavengers...i watched mine eat a piece of shrimp i through into teh tank to feed my nem...
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  #6  
Old 12/28/2007, 11:58 PM
lancer99 lancer99 is offline
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sk8r, I think I may have what you're describing....came in as hitchhikers on my FL live rock. Same white/grey striped arms, hide in the holes in the rock.

I've never seen any of them leave the LR (unlike my Caribbean brittle star who pops out at the least mention of food), so I don't know their body size vs. tentacles, but they are def bigger than the mini-brittle stars in my Chaeto.

Did your LR get exposed to anything Caribbean?

-R
  #7  
Old 01/01/2008, 11:14 PM
tetra-tag tetra-tag is offline
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The folks at 'Project DIBS' appear to have pegged several different species of the mini-brittlestars, perhaps someone with first hand experience with them can run down a bona-fide ID.

http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/mi...SSpeciesPrices
  #8  
Old 01/02/2008, 12:00 AM
sx230 sx230 is offline
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just tagging along i also have a few 100 of this gritters trying to figure out how to get rid of them.couple of days ago one of my sps colonys rtn died completly.when i took colony out there was atleast 50 of these suckers in colony not sure but i think they stressed out my acro.any advise on how to get rid of them?
  #9  
Old 01/02/2008, 12:11 AM
Sk8r Sk8r is offline
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No idea on that. I picked them up as lfs hitchhikers. They don't seem to irritate the corals, and I do have sps.

Oddly, the lfs rarely has Caribbean specimens. But who knows what got where.

The one I saw on the glass has one arm so conspicuously developed it's like an elephant's trunk, leading the charge, while the others, being very little, sort of trail backward quietly.
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  #10  
Old 01/02/2008, 08:55 AM
NanoReefWanabe NanoReefWanabe is offline
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would likely be easy to get rid of them with a Harliquin Shrimp...as their diet consists solely on starfish..

and they are super pretty....but if you intend to keep him you have to have a supply of starfish on hand...

you can buy asternia starfish online i think whcih would work to feed them...once they are done with your brittle star problem...
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