Bubble tip Brittle starfish

[embalmiwill]

Okay, remember, "no question is a stupid question"....

Two days ago I was moving rock around in my 11 gallon reef tank and my
bubble tip brittle starfish got a leg caught and it came off. There
is about an inch left on the leg at the body. The broken off part of
the leg is still moving around the tank and scavenging for food. It
gathers up pieces of mysis shrimp and curls it up to the top (right
where it is broken off). Is this normal? Can a whole body rejuvenate
from this broken section? There was no part of the body that broke
off with it, it was too far down the leg. If it was just nerves, how
long does it take to die?
It is just freaking me out! Looks just wrong.

If I am at the wrong part of the forums, please direct me to the
correct area.
Thanks.
__________________________________________________
Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info

[Billy]

"embalmiwill" > wrote in
message ...
| Okay, remember, "no question is a stupid question"....
|
| Two days ago I was moving rock around in my 11 gallon reef tank and
my
| bubble tip brittle starfish got a leg caught and it came off.
There
| is about an inch left on the leg at the body. The broken off part
of
| the leg is still moving around the tank and scavenging for food.
It
| gathers up pieces of mysis shrimp and curls it up to the top (right
| where it is broken off). Is this normal? Can a whole body
rejuvenate
| from this broken section? There was no part of the body that broke
| off with it, it was too far down the leg. If it was just nerves,
how
| long does it take to die?
| It is just freaking me out! Looks just wrong.
|
| If I am at the wrong part of the forums, please direct me to the
| correct area.
| Thanks.


Never heard of a "bubble tip" brittle star, but I have 3 brittle
stars, myself. Starfish are very primitive creatures, they don't even
have actual brains. In the wild, the leg breaking off is a defense
mechanism, like a gecko lizard losing it's tail. The tail will cease
looking for food when the cells within it use up all remaining
nourishment, up to 3 or 4 days, in my experience. The star has the
ability to regrow the lost appendage, but from what I've read, this
does not often occur in aquariums. My stars have lost a couple leg
tips, and have not grown any of them back.

Found this explanation:
"The starfish has no central nervous system. The starfish's
movements and
behaviors are controlled by a nerve net: a system of functionally
connected nerve cells and fibers anatomically dispersed throughout
most of
the animal. More than one nerve net can be present- each responding
to
different kinds of stimuli and eliciting different forms of response.
Nerve nets, having no centralized system, are efficient in terms of
resistance to injuries and the mediation of local response. The
behavioral
repertoire of starfish is such that a nerve net is sufficient to
control
movements (i.e., it doesn't take a big brain to move a starfish)."

HTH

billy

[davidharpper]

Surrounded by several marine organisms hidden in the form of a miracle is a dynamic and amazing animals, plants. People can not easily imagine a variety of animals living in marine water. Animals range in size from microscopic to large whales observed. One such marine life, it seems very strange that brittle star.