There are a few different common names for this star; most often it is called the African Red Tip / Knob Sea Star, but it is also frequently identified as Red Spine Star, Red General Star, African Sea Star and Red Spine Star. Like all the sea stars that have “linckii” in their name, Protoreaster linckii was so named for Johann Heinrich Linck, (1674-1734) German Pharmacist, Naturalist and Expert in his era on Sea Stars. They only come from the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea where they live mostly at fairly shallow depths. They've been found as deep as 100 feet down but are so common in shallower water that they are rarely, if ever, collected from water that deep. They are most often found and collected off the coast of Africa, though populations do also exist off India and Australia. They are usually found in fairly open water, on or adjacent to large expanses of sand or mud. In areas where they do well, they are often found in tidal pools.
This open floor plan will help them find food more easily, and they are very good at sensing when food is available and getting to it. Feeding is where most people's husbandry for African Red Tip Stars is off target. These fish will consume some algal film, but the majority of their diet is meat based. Gamma Frozen Foods offer a variety of appropriate foods for them, like Cockle, Prawn, Krill, and Silversides, and they'll need a good meal a couple / few times a week. Larger meaty foods will have to be chopped down to an edible size for them. If you are keeping this star with other fish, you should target feed your star to help make sure they don't get robbed by fish or shrimp. Click here to learn more
This open floor plan will help them find food more easily, and they are very good at sensing when food is available and getting to it. Feeding is where most people's husbandry for African Red Tip Stars is off target. These fish will consume some algal film, but the majority of their diet is meat based. Gamma Frozen Foods offer a variety of appropriate foods for them, like Cockle, Prawn, Krill, and Silversides, and they'll need a good meal a couple / few times a week. Larger meaty foods will have to be chopped down to an edible size for them. If you are keeping this star with other fish, you should target feed your star to help make sure they don't get robbed by fish or shrimp. Click here to learn more