Hitchhikers on my LR

Last week I bought some LR and low and behold I have discovered 2 new additions to the tank. The first one was a white colored snail which looks just like my astrea turbo snails and the other was a tiny starfish which was about 1/4 inch in size. I regret now not taking a pic of the starfish because it is now MIA. Who knows my crabs will probably have it for lunch if they find him. Should I be worried about either of these?
Q

 

Maybe some Asterina starfish

AsterinaFAQs

Marc.

 

Star has reappeared!!

Well not only did the star reappear but it brought another one with it. This pic isnt very clear but hope its atleast visible.
Q

 

Marc was right on the money. It's a harmless Asterina starfish.

 

Still leaning towards Asterina starfish for the star fish... the small white snail is probably just a baby snail. I have some in my tank.

Marc.

 

I will snap a pic when it comes out away from the rocks.

 

Not to worry about the little star in a few months you will have plenty of them.. As for them being harmless ???

 

To clarify the last message, there are SOME species of asterina that supposedly eat the flesh of sps corals. That being said, I've never had one bother any of my corals.

 

Heck, they eat all kinds of flesh. I had several attack me and started digesting me. My mantis are overprotective and they tried to save my hands and arms to no avail. The Asterina simply kept reproducing via fission and killed all of them off. In fact, the only reason you can read this is because I taught my Labrador Retriever to type before I lost my hands. She's quite skilled at dictation.

Seriously, Asterina spp. or Asterina sp. is shorthand denoting an entire Genus because it's too difficult to identify down to the species level. I have had many tanks with Asterina sp., I know hundreds of people with marine tanks with Asterina sp. starfish. I only know of one person who had one from a damaging species. That's not to say that yours is not....however, I would say that the odds are greatly in your favor that they are harmless.