parasites eating starfish

[wasabi]

i added a red starfish, im not sure of the exact type as the lfs wasnt sure.its larger than my fromia sp and a duller red.i noticed the underside is covered in parasites. is there a treatment i can give to the starfish and are these able to transfer to other stars in the tank.thank you for any advice.

 

[horge]

Perhaps what you are seeing are its tube-feet, which appear like a multitude of worms when extended? These extend from the gap in the star's exoskeleton running along the bottomside of each arm/ray.

Also, lots of tiny crustaceans hang out on stars, to no harmful effect to either.

Maybe a pic of the little beasties would help.


hth,
horge

 

[wasabi]

these are tiny less than a millimeter, there are at least 50 of them going from the outside of the bottom of the starfish,and running into the area where the tubefeet are. my real concern is, im wondering if these are relative to the host or if my other stars can pick these up.