So, does my brittle green star fish have rabies?

C

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A little history on my brittle green star fish. I feed him every other day, half a fish food pellet, and ocassionaly some shrimp chunks. He's been fine for about 6 months. Every time I would turn the light on in the tank (and even just in the room) he would run for the nearest rock and hide.

Over the past week or two, he has lost all fear of the light. He doesn't seem to care (but still notices) when the light goes on and off. He's also stopped eating as many fish pellets.

When I looked at my tank this morning, I noticed that his arms seemed "cut", and his mouth looked very weird. It looks like he is dropping two of his arms :eek: Is this a sign of stress? Is he trying to reproduce? I have no idea what the heck he is doing, everyone else in the tank seems fine.

I know some star fish reproduce by dropping arms, but they are Linckia originating from near Hawaii from what I've researched online, where as the brittles seem to be of the family Ophiuridae and not from the Hawaii region. I'm definitely :confused: I hate to say it but I don't think I'll be too sad if he dies, I know eventually he will attack my crabs and fish.

Still, I hate to see him come apart at the seams, ok, that was a bad pun...
 
They don't spontaneously fall apart, so I'd guess an infection.

Almost sounds like a hogfish got hold of it, but you don't have one.

Any way it could have encountered an impeller?
 
Originally posted by mogurnda
They don't spontaneously fall apart, so I'd guess an infection.

Almost sounds like a hogfish got hold of it, but you don't have one.

Any way it could have encountered an impeller?
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An impeller no, perhaps the damsel did it? The damsel is the only fish I currently have.

One of the star fish's other legs is falling off too.

I went to remove the leg from the tank today, but it was moving :eek: The leg seems alive, so maybe he's reproducing? I fed the leg a little food, and it ate it (I think), although I'm not sure how it managed without a mouth...

I'll try to get some pics tonight after work.
 
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Sounds like too much stress to me. My brittle did a similar nuclear meltdown. I believe it was due to fast changes in water quality and chemicals (my tank was still young). I also believe it was aided by lack of dark caves.
 
How do brittle greens reproduce in the wild?

I am thinking of returning my brittle green to the ocean, He doesn't look very good at all and is just sort of disentegrating...
 
Did you get him from the ocean? If not, do not put it in the ocean. That would be considered introducing a new species to the environment.

It probably would be ok if you got it from the ocean and put it back in the same place, but I still wouldn't do that.
 
Introduced species do absolutely horrible things to local wildlife more often than not. :(

Try adding a cleaned piece of PVC that is the right size for it to completely hide in. See if it just needs a place to be alone.
 
While star fish can regenerate from pieces it usually requires a part of the central disc for one star fish to regenerate into two. This however is not the preferred method of reproduction for the star fish but a survival tool.
 
Originally posted by becky_e
Did you get him from the ocean? If not, do not put it in the ocean. That would be considered introducing a new species to the environment.

It probably would be ok if you got it from the ocean and put it back in the same place, but I still wouldn't do that.
Click to expand...

Ever see Finding Nemo?

By return to the ocean I meant flushed down the toilet... Anyway, the star fish looked to be decomposing before my eyes, so I decided to end his misery. My tank should be a friendlier place without him.
 
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