Do brittle stars eat clams?

I had...notice I say had...a green brittle star in my 210. One morning last week I noticed that one of my clams was closed up. I went off to work and when I came home I noticed that he was still closed. Upon closer inspection I saw that the brittle star was all wrapped around the bottom of the clam. I immediately grabbed the starfish and put him in the FOWLR. Needless to say the clam was gone. I'm just wondering has anyone else had a bad experience with green brittles. A friend said that maybe the clam had died and the starfish just took advantage of a free meal. I don't really think so as the clam had been doing beautifully up until that morning. Not that it will bring the clam back, but any input would be appreciated....

 

I really think that clam kicked the bucket the night before. And he was under because he was probably eating the clams foot! yum!

I've heard of oversized hermits causing trouble, but brittles... humm, never heard such a thing but who knows! ;D

 

Green brittle stars can be nasty but I've never heard of them attacking clams. Fish and shrimp, yes, but never a clam. That's not to say that they won't do it though.

 

Oh yes. I have a big green Brittle Star and about a year ago I bought a couple of those Flame Scallops. The Starfish wrapped the tenticles around the shell and squeezed like mad. Needless to say the scallop just moved away and the starfish gave up.

BTW...I dont recomend those Flame Scallops to anyone except the most experianced hobbiest. They are tough to keep fed.

Jay

I posted pictures of this scallop being attached by the starfish on 3reef but that was with the old forum format and the post is probably lost unless Matt can find it somewhere.

Jay

 

Thanks for the replies.....I think I'll stick to my little serpant star in my reef. I thought that maybe the brittle would become a meal in the FOWLR, but he seems to be doing quite well.....:-/

 

Green Brittles can be aggressive going after other inverts as well as smaller fish. You have to be careful. But they are neat!! I have one with no problems other than him having a scuffle with a small serpent star.

 

Me Too

I had almost the same thing happen to my squamosa clam!