How did this starfish get in my tank?

Question

I have a saltwater tank that I was cleaning this morning. As I was scraping algae I noticed a very, VERY small 1/4" starfish on the glass. Not sure how he got there, they only thing I can figure is he hitched a ride on rock I purchased, but I haven't purchased rock in about 6 weeks. I have no idea what type of starfish as I have only been doing saltwater for about 3 months. Anyway, the poor little guy has one "arm" missing and a tiny chunk missing out of 2 other "arms." I would like to keep him if he is not harmful, but I am afraid my fish will pick on him until he is dead. Any assistance would be great! Also, he appears to be off white/tan in color...not sure if this would help.

Update:

I called the store I got the rock from and she told me that they are considered rock starfish and they won't get any larger. I should have called before I posted the question. But I do want to know if there is a way to keep my damsels away from him.

millypeed my choccie Lab · Accepted Answer

lt will have come with your rocks, the legs that are missing will grow back, but as you say, your fish may eat it, although it can get hidden in the rocks again, chances are you've got lots of little starfish in the rocks that you've not seen yet.
l've got dozens of them in my reef.

Anonymous · Answer

i think that he will be fine...if he feels any harm against him, then he will just hide inside the live rock. The same thing happened to me and i also got a lot of long sea serpents.  Also, because it is missing a leg, that potentially means that another one will grow. Starfish use fragmentation to reproduce. Which means its leg will grow back and another one with grow from the broken off leg. That's why when fishermen catch starfish in their nets, they cut of their legs and then throw them back so that they form new starfish. Hope i helped!

Anonymous · Answer

The starfish might have hitched on a rock like you said, or it could have grew from an egg that was on the rock. There are many possibilities on how it came there. It won't hurt your fish.

snaillover · Answer

Damsels will not bother him. They are compatible with starfish. If your damsels are picking on him, take him out and move him to a different tank. He will grow a new arm. Starfish eat clams and mussels.

rewerts · Answer

What i thinks you need to do is setup a reef aquarium that is the most perfect "environment" god has created. this example you may upload like 4 starfish some clown fish as in NEMO and DORI. those platforms are not elementary to preserve in the journey that your a newbie yet, you'll study alot about nature even as installation this reef

QuestionsPlease? · Answer

i think you should just let them do what they like, they shouldnt attack it as both are pretty peaceful

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How did this starfish get in my tank?

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