Hitchhiker sea star - is it a green brittle....

[Boomer]

http://www.aquariumpros.ca/photopost/data/1/thumbs/000_0563a.jpg (http://www.aquariumpros.ca/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4267/cat/500/ppuser/6060) This is what they used to look like - they move way too fast now for me to get a good picture of them.



Ok, I have about 10 of these guys that were all hitchhikers. My biggest so far has gotten to be about 2"-3" across. The biggest concern right now is that they are no longer red and green. But all green, with white tips (not sure if that colouring is going too) and look a little too similar to the dreaded "death stars" you see in the LFS.

I have read that the green serpent/brittle stars are hit and miss with their predatory nature. But do those guys start off red and green and turn green or is mine different? They also have the spotted white pattern on the disk as well.

[mordinad]

Hey Boomer, mine are also turning all green, the white bands are disappearing.

It's starting to look like those hairy green serpent stars at the LFS.

Haven't lost anything yet, I have one 3" tucked in a crevice in the midst of a zoa colony.

[Boomer]

Oh good, I was thinking of PM'ing you to ask. The three largest in my tank seem to be hiding in nooks and cranies where the copepodes seem to hang out. I haven't lost anything, seen any damage at all. The tank I have upstairs has 4 in there, only one as big. The smallest is about the size of a quarter, so I don't know if they are breeding, or just lack of food for that one guy. When I feed my brains and goni, they come running out of hidding and scoop what ever they can. Very interesting to watch.

But when I saw the "death" ones (and yes they used that wording) and how similar they were to mine, I got worried. In my upstairs tank I have no fish (yet) but have a goni, two brains, zoos, and a x-mas worm rock - and no deaths or even damage.

Let me know if you noticed anything - I read that they can get large (the ones in the store were as large as my hand spread out). So I don't expect (in my own little world) that they would be too hard to catch.