2014-05-19 Species Spotlight- Linchia sp. Starfish

Linckia stars are jewels of the South Pacific. They come in vibrant colors and patterns. Yet they are mysterious as we know little of all the species out there, let along the diet of all different species. Like many other marine creatures, just because they are called a "starfish" doesn't mean they are not picking on what they eat.

linty starfish as seen on Live Aquaria

There is this super attractive Linckia star for sell at Diver's Den:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden

Now, I am not saying it's impossible to keep a Linchia star, but it can be tricky as many of them prefer difference diet from another- ranging from easy and simple detritus (left over), coral (dangerous), other stars, fish, crustaceans, sponges, etc. Many of these items are either not abundantly available in a small home aquarium, some of them are too pricy to purchase or to be eaten by the star. The store I used to manage had a 180 Gallon mature reef tank with an abundance of "EVERYTHING", yet we couldn't keep a linckia in there alive for more than 3 months at a time.

If you have a really large tank- larger than 500 Gallon, mature, and is full of a variety of reef creature, you might have a shot. Otherwise, I'd advise saving your money for something not as finicky, or don't get to attached to it.