Brittle Star Lost a Leg....

And its still moving. Just wondering if when brittle stars lose their legs the lost limp keeps moving. It doesn't SEEM to be caused by the water current... but could. Its been over 24 hours and the little fingers on the underside are still moving... and when a shrimp attacks it, the entire limb worms around. I'm pretty new at saltwater and this is the first lost limb I've had! so exciting!!

 

Starfish Regeneration


"...Among the amazing abilities of starfish is a remarkable talent for regeneration. A starfish that loses a ray can grow a whole new one, given time. Most species can only regenerate if the central part of the body is intact, but a few species can grow back even from a single ray. Those species, like Linckia, will regenerate several whole starfish from a single starfish that gets torn apart."

Can also grow back from a single leg!

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"...Linckia regenerating five rays from a single surviving ray. Specimens like this are often called "comets"..."

May yours also!

Good Luck!

 

interesting... That's what I'm hoping for. I searched a bit but couldn't find anything (or used the wrong search terms) is there any documentation on this happening to a brittle star?

On the flip side, I wonder what's wrong with my tank to make the brittle do that... the tank inhabitants include (but not limited to):
2 Bangaii cardinals, Firefish, Coral Beauty Angel, Royal Gramma, 2 Peppermint Shrimp, Rock Boring Sea Urchin, Brittle Star, a Bumble Bee Snail, a Hermit Crab and tons of tiny tiny white starfish and mini brittles. None of those would attack the Brittle (AFAIK). Next check is the water perimeters (will do it when i wake up in a few hours)
Oh yea, its a 55 FOW 90 lbs of LR

 

Lots of articles on google search using "Brittle Starfish Regeneration"

Ummm, don't know about why leg fell off. Have seen before when starfish dying and beginning to disintegrate.

Maybe trying to clone self? :-/


How about a tank pic post...

 

Interesting creatures... Hard to tell why it lost its leg...

 

I had a brittle star years ago. It lost it's legs one at a time. I believe it was, that I needed to do a water change....or do them more often...

 

I've been doing water changes about 15% every 1.5-2 weeks. I actually did one two days and before doing it i tested the water.. everything tested "normal" except for nitrates which was up to about 20..

i'll take some pics when i get a chance

 

hi i just got my brittle star on sunday (15.02.09) and its started to loos its legs to day and i dont no y?

 

hi all i just been reeding a thing on the net about bittle star Regeneration this is what i got.

Ophiuroids can readily regenerate lost arms or arm segments unless all arms are lost. The disk is used to do this. Ophiuroids use this ability to escape predators, similar to how lizards deliberately shed (autotomize) the distal part of their tails to confuse pursuers. Moreover, the Amphiuridae can regenerate gut and gonad fragments lost along with the arms. The six-armed Ophiactidae generally exhibit transverse fission, which yields three large arms and three small arms. Viviparous species keep the young in the bursae. No discarded arms have shown ability to regeneration.

 

Just for the record nothing came about from the arm. I guess it kind of just disintegrated... And the starfish was fine...