Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Hole in Brittle Star

  1. #1
    Apprentice
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Southeastern Ohio
    Posts
    70
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Hole in Brittle Star

    Last night my girlfriend and I went up to Athens, Ohio to have dinner. We always stop at the two LFS up there that carry salt water stuff. I just wanted to get some snails fromt the lfs that i shop at all the time. We decided to stop at the other one that she used to work at. Its a sad excuse for a lfs. Bad management, horrible tanks filled with mojano and glass anemones. Not to mention dying corals and poor looking water. Well, my girlfriend spotted a brittle star in the damsel tank that had been there for several months. She decided to rescue it by buying it. We didnt look it over or anything. I had to bag it up cause the college kid that worked there was petrified of it and even dropped it on the counter trying to get it from the net to the bag. I just told him to watch out id take care of it. I picked the poor thing up and put it in the bag. When we got home i put it in the 5 gal that i use for a quarantine sometimes. Nothing in there but the evil damsel, some hermits, and snails. This is when i noticed the huge hole in the top of its disc. Anyway, is there anything i can do for it? Im gonna leave it where it is cause if its a disease, i dont want it spreading to my other stars. Any ideas on treatment?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    Master Reefer iglowce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Anaheim, CA
    Posts
    602
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    i've never seen such thing. anyone has any idea?

  3. #3
    Insightful Reefer BrianPlankis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    276
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    The hole is a sign of shipment stress or poor acclimation. It may not have been bad acclimation on your part, you see this quite a bit at LFS because they don't take the 2+ hours necessary to acclimate sea stars, and some wholesalers or collection stations don't as well. Some are very sensitive to salinity changes and the body starts to decompose.

    But don't throw it out yet, some of them are able to recover from this condition. It probably won't help to feed it much right now, but you could try feeding it just a couple of mysis and if it takes them it might be OK to feed it to help it recover.

    A five gallon is hard to control salinity and right now it needs extremely stable salinity or it will have an even harder time recovering. Unfortunately there isn't much else that I know of you can do for it. Maybe Ophuria will chime in with any more knowledge. You will want to keep all parameters stable as possible. Good luck!

    Brian
    www.projectdibs.com and www.talkingreef.com - Finding A Better Way Together

  4. #4
    Insightful Reefer BrianPlankis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    276
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    You should also remove the hermits, they could pick at the wound and irritate it.

    B.
    www.projectdibs.com and www.talkingreef.com - Finding A Better Way Together

  5. #5
    Site Owner Rob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    9,845
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Brian, thanks for jumping in, as usually your expertise is much appreciated..
    Show people you appreciate there advice, click the icon under there name and give them Reputation points



  6. #6
    Curious Reefer
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    2
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    You may, in fact, be interested in seeing a series of pictures of my brittlestar (the same species - Ophiomastix annulosa). Often times, these injuries to the disk can be related simply to eating too big a meal, and the food punches right through. In acclimation shock I would expect to see some sign of disintegration of the arms.



    Note the time frame - 9 days - simply astonishing!

    Another:


    Brian is absolutely right The thing to do, simply, is keep params ideal. This is the best thing for it, in addition to removing any critters that might be a pest (eg hermits). Or consider isolating the star in the tank in a container (such as a critter keeper). But ideally the star would just hide at this point.

    It is especially important that specific gravity remain at 1.025-1.026.

    It is very unlikely it is a disease. In fact, brittlestars have a fascinating assemblage of symbiotic bacteria that can fight off all sorts of mysterious things (and are being studied for our use, too).

    However, if the arms do start falling off, that is a bad sign. I don't give up hope real easily, but it isn't the best thing. That being said I've seen stars in very bad shape that have recovered nicely.
    Last edited by Ophiura; 02-19-2007 at 01:54 AM. Reason: added info

  7. #7
    Apprentice
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Southeastern Ohio
    Posts
    70
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    I really dont have another tank i can put it in other than my two displays. They each have stars in them and on the off chance it is a disease, i dont want the others to catch it. I've been keeping the salinity in check in the morning and evening everyday. He seems to be doing fine. He eats and hides quickly if you turn a light on him. The hole seems to be a bit smaller today. I did take the hermits out on the first day. They didnt seem to bother him, but better safe than sorry.

    As far as leg deterioration, a couple of the "bubble tips" did fall off in the bag on the way home and the tip (1\4") of one leg. But that was on the first day and there are no other signs of it.

    Thank you very much for all the help. I'll keep this post updated on his progress.

    Todd

  8. #8
    Apprentice
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Southeastern Ohio
    Posts
    70
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    I know this is hard to believe, but when i got home from work this evening, this is what i found. I cant believe this little guy is healing up this quickly!


  9. #9
    Grand Master Reefer gwen_o_lyn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    NW GA
    Posts
    2,824
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    wow- thats amazing!
    Glad to see he is doing so well.
    Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board
    MACNA XX Committee
    125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"

  10. #10
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    14,980
    Blog Entries
    4
    Thanks
    69
    Thanked 179 Times in 166 Posts
    Hi Ophiura,

    to TR. Thanks for the good info.
    Carmie


    Only disasters happen fast!





    Carmie's 54 Corner Tank
    Carmie's Cube


    Show people you value their advice! Click the STAR icon at the bottom of the post to add to their reputation.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Catch a Star (Brittle)
    By Albatros in forum General Marine Discussions
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 03-13-2008, 09:58 AM
  2. Green Star Polyps Pictures & Info
    By wwest in forum Soft Coral
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 03-06-2007, 03:25 PM
  3. how to feed green brittle
    By dadonoflaw in forum Sea Stars
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 11-17-2006, 06:26 PM
  4. Chocolate Chip Star
    By Kassun in forum Sea Stars
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 08-17-2006, 10:17 PM
  5. maybe a sea star?
    By dreams in forum Sea Stars
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 05-09-2006, 12:52 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •