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Thread: Brittle Star Reproduction

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    Apprentice SoCalReefer's Avatar
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    Brittle Star Reproduction

    I just witnessed my brittle star crawl up from under it's rock, and release what appeared to be hundreds of eggs. i dont know much about there're reproduction, so any info would help. I was in luck, i had turned off my skimmer earlier, during a water change, maybe that triggered it or it was just time. I only have one large brittle star that i'm aware of, so i dont know if they eggs are fertile or not.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    I don't really know anything about starfish breeding except that usually it takes two to tango. I recommend you head on over to Project DIBS and ask about this. DIBS stands for Desirable Invertebrates Breeding Society and there are tons of knowledgeable people there.
    Carmie


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    Apprentice SoCalReefer's Avatar
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    i'll look there, thanx carmie

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Someone else here might know of course but DIBS is a great resource.
    Carmie


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    Apprentice graphixx's Avatar
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    I have had this happen in one of my frag tanks, I dont know what triggered it but I was moving a couple frags to another tank and noticed that a few of my green digitata frags were COVERED in brittle stars and from further looking there were stars allover the place its like they all crawled out of there hiding places and some started to "release" into the colum I tried to get pics of it but the only thing I got was them on the corals. but I tried to keep an eye on stuff but to no avail but it was very very interesting. the whole thing lasted for probably 2 hours. actually my avatar is a pic of a piece of digitat covered in brittle stars.

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    Curious Reefer Budde's Avatar
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    Remember that Starfish can redroduce Sexually and ASexually.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Brittle stars can reproduce asexually by fissiparous division. This is when one or more of the arms breaks off with a substantial portion of the disc. But for eggs to develop into new stars you would need sperm to fertilize them. I suppose they may be hermaphrodites but many hermaphrodites don't self fertilize.
    Carmie


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    Well, I am going to jump in on this old discussion. I have only had 1 brittle star in my tank the entire time. It is large and can spread tip to tip almost the entire length, 24". After my clean out this past weekend I have been daily looking extremely close for any caulpera pieces left over and growing. What I have found is I have maybe 20 or so little white serpant stars in the tank. The large one I have is charcol grey. So, I don't know what is up but I have not seen them before. Maybe it mated with the porcipine urchine? I am wondering if I should give the big guy to a neighbor down the street with an micro algae problem and let the little guys have a chance to eat...
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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    I bet the little ones are mini-brittles which grow to be an inch or two from tip to tip. They are common hitchhikers on your LR.
    Carmie


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    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    I just caught my micro brittles in the act. They all came out in the open at the same time and raced to the top. There the did their business. I took some pics and a couple real short videos. This is the only time I've seen this happen. Pretty cool.




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    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    Last edited by SaltyDawg; 01-24-2011 at 09:34 PM.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Good pix and videos!
    Carmie


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    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    Last night they did it again. Seems like every few weeks something feels the need to cloud up the water. So it's no longer my nano...it's a 10 gallon porn festival.

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    Our Brotha Down Unda
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    Sweet. Nothing like abit of loven to make it so cloudy, you cant see whom you were loven in the first place!



    Vquilibrium Productions

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    That is a tribute to the way you maintain your tank.
    Carmie


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    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CarmieJo View Post
    That is a tribute to the way you maintain your tank.
    Then I'll have to stop doing water changes or something. It kinda grosses me out to think I stick my hands in there..lol. I'll never hold a sandwich the same way again.

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