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Unread 04/16/2014, 02:12 AM   #1
Moort82
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Brittlestars and nps

Does anyone know if there is a specific species of Brittlestar that eats Chilli corals? I found this star on my chilli and noticed the centre was exactly the same colour. I don't know if this is camo or whether it had ingested some of the coral. The legs are different coloured so my first thoughts were possible predation, although there were no obvious marks.

I'm also suffering from a boom in brittlestars on my nps gorgonians. I don't mind them and they were there when i bought the gorgs, just thought nice symbiosis, but they do hinder some of the polyps feeding and recently read an article where they had to constantly strip them from their gorgs. Has anyone else come across this problem? if so how did you over come/fight it? I can't take them out and wasn't looking at adding a wrasse or similar to eat them, so will likely just have to let them be.


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Unread 04/16/2014, 10:35 PM   #2
HPark
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Different coral but I received a purple stereonepthia from DD several months ago. It was covered in mini brittle stars as well. Though they disappeared from the coral after a time. I still see them in the sand and rock occasionally.

I figured it was just a good place for them to feed on the same particles the coral polyps were feeding upon...but total guess in the dark.




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Unread 04/17/2014, 01:59 AM   #3
Moort82
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I agree it probably represents the best feeding opportunity for them but the one on the chilli was identicle in colour (at least the oral disc was) and it was reminiscent of the way berghia nudibranch's utilise the stinging nematocysts in aiptasia and gain their colour in a "you are what you eat" kinda way.

If they are eating the chilli then it is very slowly as there are no signs of damage but the ones on the gorg are stopping the polyps from feeding and i think will need some action.
Here are a few bad pics. You can see when in small numbers they seem to move around the polyps and don't cause too many problems, but in the areas of better flow they gang up and certainly reduce the feeding potential of the corals. They have also spread to the rockwork and are under other corals and i'm happy for them to be there.


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