您是否曾经想过那种ity味的海星在您的水箱里做什么？偷偷摸摸的海星可能搭在一些活岩或新的珊瑚上，但是现在有数十个灰色的小海星在漫游您的水箱。这种“爆发”的棘皮动物可能实际上是阿斯特琳娜海星。
The阿斯特琳娜starfish is seen as more of anaquarium pestthan a pet, and although most species of阿斯特琳娜可以在不杀死珊瑚的情况下在水箱中共存，可能很难说出哪种物种阿斯特琳娜you’ve inherited. It’s true that some星星can grow up to be coral munchers, but by and large Asterina are innocuous members of a mature reef aquarium population.
If you are keeping a reef tank, we can almost assure you at one point you will come across an阿斯特琳娜海星。如果您的共识尚未达成共识，这取决于您如何处理阿斯特琳娜is friend of foe. Should a starfish outbreak occur you want to keep monitoring your corals, especially the base of the coral. If you start noticing jagged white marks it’s possible your starfish have gotten a taste for corals polyps and it is best to remove them from your aquarium.
阿斯特琳娜stars reproduce by fragmentation (fissiparous reproduction) and their bodies will split apart losing one or two legs at a time which regrow as new starfish. The阿斯特琳娜star can have an asymmetrical appearance, and it could look like your have a bunch of 3 legged starfish crawling around in your tank. This is also why it can seem like suddenly overnight what used to be a handful of tiny starfish are now covering your rock work.
阿斯特琳娜starfish are small, around 1/4” – 1/2” across and can reach a maximum size of 3/4″, or 2cm. As you can image it would be difficult to remove each starfish one by one. If you’re ready to rid your reef of星星it’s time to enlist the help of the Harlequin shrimp. This beautiful crustacean is a starfish killing machine and will seek and destroy your starfish by rolling them onto their backs and devouring their delicious tube feet. They will rapidly consume an infestation of阿斯特琳娜几周或几个月后，添加了咒语。
If you do purchase a Harlequin clean up crew make sure you continue feeding them starfish or sadly they will die. You could also join forces with a few reefing friends and share the shrimp amongst a few hobbies to keep your阿斯特琳娜populations in check.
