Commensal Starfish on Gorgonian (PICS)

[reefman88]

Just wanted to share with everyone something cool that I found. It is a type of brittle star that hosts on gorgonians, mainly the purple frilly ones. I had one of these a couple years ago but sold it with my gorgonian when I broke down my tank. It took me another 2 years to find this one. Hope you guys like. I would say I have seen 200 gorgonians before i saw this one.

If your lucky you can even find baby Basket Starfish on gorgonians. I have one but can't seem to get a photograph. You can see how hard it was just to get this one while it was in the gorg.

 

[caudill187]

Cool. I love those things.

 

[FishLipz]

It's those small things that so often go unnoticed that are the true joys of this hobby

 

[Pappy]

It's those small things that so often go unnoticed that are the true joys of this hobby

Plus1!

 

[ritter6788]

Very cool! What do the starfish and the gorg do for each other? I'm not familiar with the relationship.

 

[revsgirl]

Great pic! Thanks for sharing!

 

[KSzegi]

I have a few in both of my tanks too ..... in my smaller tank that has gorgonians they definitely spend most of their time in them - but there are always a few that hang in the birdsnest too. In my 300, I don't have any gorgonians and they seem to prefer the big hystrix birdsnest to hang out in. Very neat critters!!

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful star and photo!

 

[reefman88]

Thanks for the better photos!! They look huge in your tank. Hope mine keeps growing. I think they probably eat the Flamingo Tongues (Cyphoma gibbous) that are predatory to the gorgonian. Or they at least keep them away.

 

[KSzegi]

Beautiful star and photo!

Thanks!

Thanks for the better photos!! They look huge in your tank. Hope mine keeps growing. I think they probably eat the Flamingo Tongues (Cyphoma gibbous) that are predatory to the gorgonian. Or they at least keep them away.

You're welcome, glad I could help .... your pics were the first time I've seen them other than mine! Some have gotten pretty big over the past year - I would say about 8-10" across - and seemed to have stopped at that point, I'm thinking that is their full mature size.

 

[ToadallyNC]

Those are awesome! Thanks for sharing!!

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[Cl0ne1]

Those are awesome...I was thinking about getting a gorgonian...what is the best way to possibly acquiring one of those? Do they just come on the gorgonian? Has anyone ever seen them in an LFS?

 

[KSzegi]

I've never seen them in any of the LFS that I've been to. The only other time I've seen them has been in this thread -and in the Gulf .... I keep hoping they will reproduce in my tank! lol You might want to check with Richard at Tampa Bay Saltwater ..... he may come across them.

I do have quite a few of them - if you are ever in my area and still interested, let me know and I can help you too.

 

[uall8up]

Wonderful pics, thank you for sharing. I hope to have cool stuff like that in my tank someday!

 

[bige]

That's really cool.