name this starfish

ok i know he is a type of brittle star or so i am told... but what is he.. he is like 6 inches and as you can see in the pic mean lookin.. any know.. thanks

 

Maybe this will help- I think it's a black serpent star.
Black Brittle Star - Ophiocomina nigra

 

thanks for that will definately check it out..

 

Brittle star - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

did the stars arms come like that or did they disappear and re-appear in that tank. if they were lost and re-appeared in that tank you may have a mantis

 

It is most likely Ophiocoma wendtii, famous most recently for the discovery of microlenses on the arms. Most likely you will see it is a lighter color at night. I only really ever see the arms on mine, which is normal.

IME rather reclusive and non-aggressive. Spines are primarily DEFENSIVE structures - it would not be fun to eat those arms. It is not known to be predatory but then anything is possible. FWIW I have 3 very very very large green brittlestars, Ophiarachna incrassata, and they are known predators. I have them in a 45g with a cleaner shrimp, assorted clean up crew and a sixline wrasse for basically 8+ years. And there are another 6 larger species of brittlestars too. I can't accuse them of eating anything.

They (brittlestars in general) need to be spot fed - MUST be spot fed, IMO. Otherwise you are leaving them no option but to take what comes. that being said feeding won't guarantee a brittlestar will not eat something, but my guess is the majority of the time they are merely cleaning up something that died.

Brittlestars commonly lose bits of arms - hence the common name - typically this is nothing to worry about so long as the arms are regenerating.

There is no biological distinction between brittlestar and serpentstar, so there, too, we can not say that one is predatory and the other is not (though many in the hobby try to make this claim).

 

Susan,

I really appreciate you coming here for this ID.

Those who've only been the hobby for a couple years might not know who she is but she is just a tiny bit smart in the area of Ophiura. LOL However, I definately knew who to contact for a good ID.

Seriously, if you have a question, her website is worth exploring. Home

 

Now that is a cool website for stars.

 

thanks everyone for the info.. and to answer the question about his arms.. i got him like that but they are growin back nice and healthy.. much appreciate all the advice.. was curious cause when i got him just got told brittle star and that was it..