Brittle Sea Star

 
The Brittle Sea Star is a species of sea star in the family Ophiocomadie. 

These long-limbed beauties can grow to a majestic size.  The central disc is dark brown in color with tan markings. The legs are long and are banded with light and dark brown coloration. The legs also have many spines that aid the starfish in finding food.

The Brittle Star enjoys an established saltwater aquarium with plenty of live rock for hiding. It is nocturnal and often hides under the rocks during the day. At night, it comes out to eat detritus and small organisms. will truly clean your substrate of all detritus and waste.  It requires a deep sand bed in a larger aquarium with a constant supply of naturally occurring food. The starfish may consume other smaller inverts like shrimp and snails if they begin to starve. Without enough food they can eventually decay.

Invertebrates can be more sensitive to parameter changes than fish or coral.  High nitrate levels or sudden changes in pH or Salinity can be very harmful to inverts and may cause death.  It is recommended to do a slow acclimation process when adding new inverts to your aquarium.