Help!!!

[Becca]

I think this is a green brittle star but not sure, it's really big and I think it has been nipping at my firefish.
I noticed 2 days ago that there is a hunk missing for the middle of fire's tail then last night i noticed that part of his dorsal fin is missing
This is its legs

This is his body

Its really big, infact its so big my husband asked if it was a mini oct.

 

[Craig Manoukian]

It's a brittle star, which all color variations can be predatory. I took my big black brittle star back to the LFS after he munched my sleeping Flasher Wrasse. can you say $35 meal!

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Wow that is big.... Did you add any new live rock lately? Where would it have come from?

 

[BigAl07]

*Eyes Wide*

That IS big!! Is it carrying a COW on it's back?

I would be VERY leery of that critter. Even the most docile of critters will tend to get "Greedy" as size and appetite increases.

 

[Becca]

Its sitting next to my mussel.
The only thing new I got was a shroom and star polyps I would have seen it if it there. As a matter of fact it would have covered the whole shroom rock and all.
I am not sure where it came from but I picked up my little rock with the stars on them and it was on the back i did not see it when I 1st picked it up and all i felt was something touching me and i almost dropped the rock.
Now I have to try and find where it went and how to catch it.
Whats the best why to get it out you think?
Can it BITE ME?????
If it is in a rock how can i make it come out?

 

[Kensn]

They come out and forage at night...can sometimes catch them walking around. I would put in a chunk of food somewhere in the open at night and see if he comes out to get it..

 

[SubRosa]

While a brittle is certainly a threat to small fish the odds that it's responsible for a missing chunk of fin are very slim.If he gets hold of that little guy you won't find so much as a scale.They don't bite.They swallow.Or more precisely they evert their stomach and use it like a sponge to digest their food.

John