tentacle coming out of liverock!

[bboyin4lyf]

i acquired my liverock a little over a week ago and im just now starting to notice some hitch hikers. the strangest being a group of very thin looking tentacles that come out of a tiny hole in my rock work 8O . im thinking it might be a type of starfish. the tentacles extend about 1 1/2 inchs and "search" the surrounding rock. im not sure of starfish feeding behaviours but its strange because i never see the body just 2 maybe 3 tentacles at a time.
the arms are very thin compared to there length and have tiny "hooks"
any advice to what this curious creature is would be gladly appreciated!
thanks!

 

[SpicyBalls]

are the tentacles transparent like?
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European Forum

 

[Anonymous]

There are SO many things that live in little crevaces. There are tiny worms that stick out two little antennae.

Or it could be brittle stars. Are the tentacles tapered and marked with black bands? I also have white brittle stars but they don't tend to hide in holes as much as the black banded ones.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

abit of an update on the tentacles. i went in at about 1 am last night and flicked on the blue atinics. only one arm was coming out of the hole but it was ruffle 2-3 inchs long 8O lol im scared. do starfish behaviour in this in that they dont show there body only there arms which look for food?
getting really curious !
cheers :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

yes little brittle stars will hide in the rock and stick out their tentacles. however if it's 2-3 inches long that may not be a brittle star. maybe it's a worm or something. it's really hard to guess w/o a pic.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

yeah its a brittle star then, its got black lines on the arms, lol i put some food infront of its cave an arm shot out and dragged it in 8O scary to watch. cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Well I dont necessarilly think it is a brittle unless there spines coming off of the tentacle. It sounds to me as though it could also be a spaghetti worm which are fine as long as they arent in plague numbers.Also, alot of people seem to confuse the look of a white brittle with that of a light colored bristle worm.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

are brittle stars fine for the reefs system?

 

[Anonymous]

Without a pic and not knowing where your rock is from it would be impossible to say but if the tentacle is smooth with black stripes it coiuld be a very common hitchhiker a Harlequin Serpent Star ( unfortunately I dont have the species name at the moment ).

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[bboyin4lyf]

the arms look very similar just smaller so ill assume its something similar if not the same,
thanks heaps for the effort un getting the photo!
cheers