Brittle stars or worms of some kind I cannot tell

[darrowj]

Last night I broke out the flashlight to see what was going on in my tank after lights out. I do this once in a while to see how bad the bristle worm situation is or what other creatures I hardly see are up to.

Anyway I saw in a number of places what looked like plaid colored worms sticking out of my soft corals or live rock nooks. OK... not exactly plaid but I do not know how else to describe it. Colors where light brown, dark brown and a red ring at intervals along the length.

Then I noticed they tapered to a point at the end and where swinging back and forth. I noticed a two or three close together at what looked like fixed angles but I could not be sure.

I think they might be brittle stars of some kind. This reference here makes me think so: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm

I have zero idea how they got into my tank. 6 months ago or longer I added some corals from a member. Hitchhiker I guess.

Tried to grab a hold of one and pull it out. I was able to get one but could not pull it out of its hiding spot to verify a worm or star.

In any case I'm not sure if I should be concerned? I do not know what type of creature this is and if it will hurt my tank environment overall?

 

[pillowfish]

Sounds like a brittle star to me, they have banded colored legs on some, depends on the type. Most likely hitched a ride in, they are good guys. I wouldn't be concerned in the least, some people actually sell them

 

[JohnK]

Yup, tiny brittle stars, most people call them "mini-brittle stars".

Quite common, very cool, and totally harmless. The reproduce naturally in our systems. You got them as hitch hikers.

 

[darrowj]

Awesome.

I spied one last night for the first time. Saw the little guy completely out of his/her hiding spot. Only saw the little guy for about 1 second before it dropped back into its nook and was out of sight.

Brittle star it is.

Does anyone know what they eat? Curious as they simply sit around with their arms/legs swinging around all night.

 

[afboundguy]

Def sounds like the mini bristle stars... I have a ton of them in my tank... And I wouldn't worry about feeding them, they should just feed on detris and anything they can grab onto...