Unknown starfish!

I cant get a picture right now because it just hid under the rocks but i just found a white starfish the size of a quarter... seems too big to be an asterina star.... and has normal even sized arms ( 5 to be exact) any thoughts? Just dont want to wake up to this thing munching on my frags.

 

I only know of 2 white starfish: asterinas and sand sifters. If it's a sand sifter keep a close eye on it because they don't do well in aquariums as they usually starve to death.

 

It could be an asterina, my LFS has a an asterina thats about 5"from arm tip to arm tip. They believe that is one of the mythical not reef stars. haha

 

I agree most likey Asternia.

Number of legs is not accurate for ID, these starfish reproduce by lateral fission. They can have 3, 6 ..........

White or gray do not seem to be problematic except when their population explodes.

Reds, blues, purples can be corals eaters.

 

good to know, thanks everyone, it looks a lot like an asterina just really huge! i had no idea they could get that large!

 

Wow! I didn't know they could get this large either. Very cool.

 

There are many species of Asterina.I agree with Cheryl though the white or grey ones seem to be harmless scavengers.8)

 

Did it look like this?
I still haven't ID'd this one but it has been growing (been tracking it for about 8 months in my tank) and it appears to be somewhat related to brittle stars but its spines are very small. It is completely white. eats algae and detris.