Cool extra or future problem?

[Tom Vick]

This critter came with my last frag purchase. Is this thing hanging out with the coral like some crabs do or is it making a meal of it?

 

[Tom Vick]

Here is the pic...I hope..

 

[Gina]

Bristle worm?

 

[Witfull]

looks like a mini brittlestar, due to the black/grey banding, if it is,,,,harmless goodguy~

 

[Tom Vick]

It is some sort of banded star...seems to like that one coral...I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[Witfull]

its fine,,its living in the rock...it wont cause any problems.

 

[KimPossible]

I second the Brittle Star, I have some of these guys in my tank too!
Great Deitravoirs! They do a spledid job of keeping the inaccessible areas of your tank cleaned up.

 

[Tom Vick]

Are there Brittle Stars that eat coral? It NEVER leaves it.

 

[Witfull]

looks like a mini brittlestar, due to the black/grey banding, if it is,,,,harmless goodguy~

tom...its fine, i swear. they live in the rock, only sticking their legs out. they may move from one rock to another, but something has to make them rixk the move. they a delicate critters.

 

[mattie]

it is defintly a starfish i have seen this exact one before... i do not know anything about it but in the tank i saw it in the owner was having troubles with acropora's which should have be unrealted to the starfish but he believed strongly that these starfish were part of the cause......... he got a coral that had 1 or 2 of them and they multiplied to a frighting amount in his tank ....every hole or crevice had the little legs poping out..with in 2 years.... and what i found very strange about these starfish was they didn't really hide with the lights on and nothing would eat them......becouse he tried to remove them with a 6-line and a coral banded w/no luck
so my very limited knowledge on these inverts would be, you do need that tiny lil thing & try harder to match the pic to find out more about it....... to make a more informed decision

 

[KimPossible]

*thank you ..wetwebmedia
Does it look like this?

Ophiocoma paucigranulata, the Spiny Brittle Star. Tropical West Atlantic. 4-6 inches in diameter. Have pale colored arms in their middles. Found in association with living corals. Cozumel image at night.

Or this???

Ophiocoma alexandri Lyman 1860, Alexander's Brittle Star. Indo-Pacific. Disc size to 0.9 in., arms to 7.1 inches in length. Feed on detritus both day and night by extending their arms from crevices, beneath rocks. Southern California to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos pic.

There is a green bristle star that is a predatory fish eater.
Try to get a little better pic of the critter if you can

 

[mattie]

these star fish are very small 1 to 1.5 inch
they may feed on the mucus secreted by the acropora.