Starfish has rotting limbs.

[praba775]

Hi, my sand sifting starfish has a few rotting arms. My hermit crabs have cleaned up the arms but one of it is still rotting. Almost going to reach the central disc. My LFS asked me to just leave it and it will heal on its own. But I have read in google to cut it of.What should I do?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hi, my sand sifting starfish has a few rotting arms. My hermit crabs have cleaned up the arms but one of it is still rotting. Almost going to reach the central disc. My LFS asked me to just leave it and it will heal on its own. But I have read in google to cut it of.What should I do?

If the starfish is healthy, it will regrow them just fine - no need to cut them.

That said, it sounds like your starfish is dying (as most do in our tanks at this point), likely of starvation.

To try and help it:

You can target feed them, but no one has gotten back to me yet on if it helps:

These starfish don’t eat algae in any meaningful quantities. They’re probably carnivorous, but may be detritivorous (see the quotes below). Personally, I’d try putting the star in an acclimation box with a dish of sand for it, and I’d try offering it a bunch of mollusks for it to eat (clams, mussels, oysters, and small but meat-eating snails like Nassarius snails would be my suggestions at this point), and see if it shows interest in eating any of them. If it does, then I’d try offering it more of that item in various sizes and see if it has a preferred food size.

I'd try something like clam, oyster, etc. and/or snail meat (you can find various frozen/live marine snails to try online, including conch meat, periwinkle snails, babylonian snails, etc.)

The quote below is specifically geared toward Astropecten spp. (predatory) sand sifting stars, but there is another genus of sand sifting stars called Archaster that is thought (importantly the diet was inferred, not studied in the research that this diet was pulled from) to be detritivorous (specifically, they are thought to be microphagous detritivores). I have heard but cannot confirm that Archaster spp. misidentified as Astropecten spp. may be more common in the hobby than actual Astropecten spp. are.

So, with this in mind:
- If your star is detritivorous (which may be a very big if), then you would likely want smaller foods than the suggested below (which is designed for predatory sand sifters). In this case, I'd suggest trying to mix something like TDO Chroma Boost into the sand for your stars to find.
- If your star is predatory (which may to our limited knowledge be possible at this point even if it is an Archaster sp.), then the below advice (and my advice above) is more likely to be useful.
- If your star is actually primarily a biofilm eater like Linckia spp. Protoreaster nodosus, etc. (which may also to our limited knowledge be possible for an Archaster sp.), then it's likely to die regardless of what you do or don't feed it at this point.

I’ve heard they climb the glass when they’re looking for food and can’t find any in the sand bed.

Generally, people recommend large tanks and waiting until your tank is established before trying these (or pretty much any) sea stars, and the star survives on detritus in the tank. Unfortunately, even in a lot of these tanks, after they finish clearing the detritus from the sand, they typically starve.

My current advice to avoid the star staving - which may or may not help, I genuinely don't know at this point (it could take someone months to years of testing it to find out for certain, as sea stars can last months without food):
Target feed the star things like clam on half shell, oyster, mussel, scallop, etc. (bivalves); snail, whelk, conch, etc. (sea snail gastropods); and a good quality omnivore food (like LRS Reef Frenzy or Fertility Frenzy). These are - according to the best sources of information I can find - the sorts of foods sand sifting stars consume in the wild, and the star should swallow these foods whole if they aren't too big - you might need to experiment a bit with the size of the pieces offered to get it sized just right, but generally I'd say err on the smaller side.

If you decide to give it a shot, let me know how it goes, and keep me updated on the long term survival of the star!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I agree with the above. If it was healthy its limbs wouldnt appear to be "rotting". If its still alive by the end of the week id be surprised...thats sad to say but true.

 

[ackshee]

Far from an expert but unfortunately this sounds like Sea Star Wasting Disease. Current research suggests it's a bacterial infection. Maybe an iodine dip or something might help?

 

[Rollnwthdatide]

Hi, my sand sifting starfish has a few rotting arms. My hermit crabs have cleaned up the arms but one of it is still rotting. Almost going to reach the central disc. My LFS asked me to just leave it and it will heal on its own. But I have read in google to cut it of.What should I do?

It's likely starving slowly and wasting away. Sand sifting stars aren't good unless you have a very large aquarium to support them.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Far from an expert but unfortunately this sounds like Sea Star Wasting Disease. Current research suggests it's a bacterial infection. Maybe an iodine dip or something might help?

I doubt iodine or any disinfectant would be safe for them unfortunately. From my experience once most starfish begin to decline in health in aquariums, theres not much you can do and they literally disintegrate generally within days.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi, my sand sifting starfish has a few rotting arms. My hermit crabs have cleaned up the arms but one of it is still rotting. Almost going to reach the central disc. My LFS asked me to just leave it and it will heal on its own. But I have read in google to cut it of.What should I do?

This often happens from stress and due to high nitrates or phosphate, starvation (not enough food) and aggression.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Far from an expert but unfortunately this sounds like Sea Star Wasting Disease. Current research suggests it's a bacterial infection. Maybe an iodine dip or something might help?

I doubt iodine or any disinfectant would be safe for them unfortunately. From my experience once most starfish begin to decline in health in aquariums, theres not much you can do and they literally disintegrate generally within days.

Yeah, the current thinking is that it may be a combination of various bacteria/microbes causing the disease rather than one specific one, but they're investigating it further - it's definitely at least accompanied by the starfish microbiome being thrown out of balance though. (Edit: I added a link for this - "*****")

Unfortunately, while I've wondered about iodine dips as well, it seems unlikely to help - studies have tried a wide range of antibiotics (Enrofloxacin,* Marbofloxacin, Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim,** etc.) without success (or with statistically insignificant levels of success) to treat the condition.

There was one report of using Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim to treat it effectively,*** but that efficacy was not replicable in other studies (see the "**" link).


So, it seems the stars need more than just the demise of the harmful bacteria - it seems they may need to somehow have their microbiome basically reset to what's healthy for them (which would be way harder to do). There is research currently taking place to try and dig deeper into the cause,**** however, and knowing the cause could tell us more about how to treat it effectively - so hopefully they'll figure that out soon.

*Source:

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global.wcs.org

**Source:

Sea Star Wasting Disease in captive common sea stars (Asterias rubens): Examinations, therapy attempts and course of disease | Published in Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists

By K. Grassl, J. Bauer. Sea Star Wasting Disease in captive common sea stars (Asterias rubens): Examinations, therapy attempts and course of disease

eafpbulletin.scholasticahq.com

***Source:

RAW 2015 Conservation & Research Abstracts

Advancements in the Management of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome in Aquaria Melissa Bishop, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Watch Video (Login required)

www.animalprofessional.com

****Source:

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome | MARINe

marine.ucsc.edu

*****Source:

Frontiers | Microbial dysbiosis precedes signs of sea star wasting disease in wild populations of Pycnopodia helianthoides

Sea star wasting (SSW) disease, a massive and ongoing epidemic with unknown cause(s), has led to the rapid death and decimation of sea star populations with ...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Echinoderm biology is highly complex as @ISpeakForTheSeas can attest. Their internal biological functions are so djfferent than any other it really takes a lot of highly specific research to pinpoint the causes of illness. You can read an article I wrote about Issues with keeping Blue Linckias in the article section. It delves into the biology pretty deeply in certain sections.

 

[danreef55]

Have you touched the starfish with your bare hands?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Have you touched the starfish with your bare hands?

Thats not actually proven in any way to be detrimental to health

 

[danreef55]

I comment based upon past repeated hands-on experience importing literally thousands of starfish that it does indeed impact their health. No, this was NOT a scientific study, but the mortality ratio was dropped substantially when we avoided touching them with bare hands. This was especially true with linckia. Just a suggestion. Be well

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I comment based upon past repeated hands-on experience importing literally thousands of starfish that it does indeed impact their health. No, this was NOT a scientific study, but the mortality ratio was dropped substantially when we avoided touching them with bare hands. This was especially true with linckia. Just a suggestion. Be well

All I said was that it hasnt been proven or suspected to be the case by experts I personally communicate with (expert researchers, not hobbyists). Why would touching them affect health? Wouldnt the way you handled it be more likely to affect health or the amount of time it was out of water, the time you touched it after collection (maybe it was already in a state of ill health? There are just so many variables if you dont have any idea why touching them would harm them. Just a thought

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

All I said was that it hasnt been proven or suspected to be the case by experts I personally communicate with (expert researchers, not hobbyists). Why would touching them affect health? Wouldnt the way you handled it be more likely to affect health or the amount of time it was out of water, the time you touched it after collection (maybe it was already in a state of ill health? There are just so many variables if you dont have any idea why touching them would harm them. Just a thought

Given how respiration in starfish works, I could potentially see it harming them (particularly depending on chemicals on the skin) similarly to how excess handling (particularly with bare skin) can harm amphibians, but I'd also imagine how detrimental it may or may not be could vary drastically from one species to another and drastically based on how the star is handled.

 

[danreef55]

As I stated this was not a scientific study, but it is based upon statistics alone. Unfortunately, the business records were destroyed along with the back up in a fire or I would have shared the stats based upon 7 years in the trade.

 

[praba775]

HI, my starfish most probably already dead. One of its arm just fell of. I dont know how to know if it really is dead. When I look at I have seen a few of its tube feet move but the arms itself didnt move and most of its tube feet had already disappeared or jus hanging. So how do I know if its dead or still alive? It is still in my tank for now just in case it really is alive.

 

[praba775]

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

HI, my starfish most probably already dead. One of its arm just fell of. I dont know how to know if it really is dead. When I look at I have seen a few of its tube feet move but the arms itself didnt move and most of its tube feet had already disappeared or jus hanging. So how do I know if its dead or still alive? It is still in my tank for now just in case it really is alive.

If some of the tube feet are still suctioning to things/moving, the star isn't completely dead - the feet will stop, and the star will reportedly turn "floppy"/"mushy" (i.e. it will stop feeling rigid). It will also fairly promptly basically disintegrate.

Stars can drop legs and recover fully from that - it's any damage to their central disk that may mean death for them.

Either way, that star is in bad shape, and I personally wouldn't expect it to pull through at this point - you can try spot feeding it if it still has the strength to feed, but definitely no guarantees it would help.

 

[praba775]

It is not eating. I spot fed it amphipods, copepods, coral food and fish food. I will check again tommorow if it is still alive. I will leave some food near it for the night. By the way its central disk already had some rot so most probably will die.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It is not eating. I spot fed it amphipods, copepods, coral food and fish food. I will check again tommorow if it is still alive. I will leave some food near it for the night. By the way its central disk already had some rot so most probably will die.

Yeah, I'd guess it'll be dead very shortly.