Starfish legs....alive?

[KDC]

Ok, this is a little weird. I know that starfish can regenerate their legs, but I always thought that the main body part had to be intact.
This is what happened. I ordered a harlequin starfish from reefscavengers.com (I will never order from them again!!) but they were shipped two day air with no heat packs so everything was either dead or in freezing cold water. I went ahead and drip acclimated (very-very slowly) almost everything, but only a few snails survived. Now the starfish looked like he was moving just a little so I put him in my tank. The next morning he was in pieces. Now I have three of his arms that are still hanging around the edge of my tank, moving and even wrapping around food that get down there... What is going on!! It is just legs, there is no center part! Has anyone seen this before? Should I get them out, or am I eventually going to have 3 starfish?

 

[thereefersspot]

sorry about your encounter, did you at least get a refund or credit

 

[KDC]

Yeah, I finally got a refund, but I had to take it to PayPal to get a resolution since I couldn't get them to respond to my emails.

 

[steved13]

Are the legs still moving? I don't know anything about them, so I can't be of much help. I think they can regenerate from a leg from looking around on the net. I'm surprised someone with Starfish experience hasn't jumped in

 

[KDC]

The legs are still there and even occasionally moving. I found the same information you did and I even asked my sister (who is a biologist out in St. Croix) but she said she's never heard of it happening in a tank. They aren't disintegrating and my snails and hermit crabs leave them alone. They are usually all oner anything that even thinks of dying in my tank, so I'm stumped. Oh well, I really like the harlequin starfish and so far they aren't hurting anything, so they can just hang around and we'll see what comes of it. I'll try and get a picture so if something happens I can show the progression.

 

[BigAl07]

The legs will ultimately "disintegrate" but it's common to have them moving around "acting" natural for a good lil bit. Odds are they'll just dissolve and be gone. I've never heard of (doesn't mean it CAN'T happen) a leg regenerating the body.

 

[KDC]

I haven't ever heard of it happening either, but my sister found something online that said it should be possible. Since nothing is eating them and they aren't bothering anything I'll just take a wait and see stance.

 

[Rhodes19]

Hi Kayce,

I guess time will tell. I've heard of starfish regenerating legs (even saw it when I used to go diving) but I never heard of a leg growing a body like BigAl mentioned. Keep an eye on the legs and at the earliest signs of degeneration, remove them right away. You don't want them nuking you tank. HTH

 

[KDC]

Thanks for your input everyone. I'll keep a close eye on them. My hermits seem to be watching them too. Every once in a while they go over there and seem to mess with them, but then they leave them alone. It is really weird, but it seems to be fascinating my kids. LOL

 

[Reefmack]

I'm not sure about all star species, but some can grow a new body and animal from just an arm:

Starfish Regeneration

I've read that they used to chop up Crown Of Thorns stars (coral predators) and throw them back in the reef, to try to kill them off. Due to regeneration they ended up with more stars than ever.

Crown-of-thorns starfish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"When under stress the crown-of-thorns can create outbreaks and, if dismembered, can regenerate from each severed or damaged limb, creating more sea stars. Therefore, controlling the crown-of-thorns is difficult and much care is required."

 

[PIMPALA]

I dont see how an arm can survive without a mouth to feed itself.

 

[KDC]

Wow, thanks for the information Reefmack. It would be cool to watch if that's what is going to happen I'll keep a real close eye on them and let everyone know whick way they go.

 

[KDC]

Pimpala, I don't either, but weirder things have happened. My sister suggested that maybe enough of the central disc is still attached to each of the legs to let them ingest a little.

 

[Reefmack]

It might be that some digestion can occur via the tube feet or inside the hollow part of the leg? Just guessing.

 

[KDC]

I'd love to find out. I'll let you know what happens with them.