Scott Fellman

Being a high-octane fish geek, I'm always on the lookout for something new and different. Travelling as much as I do, I get to spend lots of time in different fish stores and visiting different aquariums. This weekend, it was the DFWMAS. Following the meeting, Marc, Drew and Gina Richardson, my Girlfriend Michelle and I found ourselves at one of Dallas' high end aquarium stores.

Eager to spend Marc's money to help stock up his tank, we spied an unusual starfish called the 'Beadel Starfish". That was helpful...This thing was totally different than any other starfish we had ever seen. It was the fastest, gnarliest, most uniquely covered starfish we'd ever seen. I mean, these starfish FLEW across their tank. Was this thing a potential addition to his tank, or a bad mistake, to be avoided at all cost?

What the hell was this thing? We started using the technology at hand...Three iphones furiously scouring the internet. Calls were made to Julian Sprung and Bob Fenner, who of course, were not available! After much searching, we stumbled to a concensus: We were looking at Astropecten articulatus! Ok. Right. good.

Now that we seemed to know what it was- was this thing safe to add to his reef tank? According to Sprung's book, it was a fine choice, being a detritivore and consumer of some macrofauna. Other web sites had this thing pegged as a carnivore, eating mollusks, crabs, small children...whatever it could catch! Hmmm...What to do? Coin toss time.

We did what all responsible reefers would do- tried to find every reason why Marc SHOULD buy the animal. Michelle, ever the voice of reason- did her best to dissuade us from making what she felt was a possible mistake. So of course, enthusiasm won out over common sense, and the mystery starfish was promptly bagged up and on its way to a new life in melev's reef!

After a careful acclimation, we released the animal into Marc's refugium- because that what you do with an animal that might decimate all of the life forms you've carefully been accumulating to benefit your aquarium!

Of course, being the nervous reefer types, we stayed up until 2:30 AM watching the starfish settle in. The first thing it did was to roll over and expose its bottom side- perhaps a symbolic gesture? It looked for all the world like a Sea Urchin. Actually, our hastily concocted theory was that this was some sort of instinctive mimicry response. Hmm.. that's a leap of faith for an animal that has no central nervous system!



Regardless, that's what it looked like...Time for bed. It was just sitting there. (iPhone photo to follow... boring stuff)



Waking up early the next day, I stumbled out to look at the starfish, expecting to find a pile of melted goo all over the refugium. Shortly after I woke up, a half-dressed Marc raced into the living room and right to refugium, like a kid on Christmas morning (or a guy who just spent $80 on an impulsive starfish purchase!). After a bit of jostling for position, we determined that it was alive! High fives were exchanged, and good morning vibes flowed like the freshly brewed coffee Marc just made. Yeah- great purchase! Our peers would commend us for this brave, pioneering move. This was cool!

Only after we absorbed the triumph of the moment did Marc reveal the following, rather humorous text exchange from one of his local club members during the wee hours:



I guess not everyone can accept the brilliance of others without being critical, huh? Sigh.

Will the starfish decimate Marc's refugium? Will it wither away to nothing, and teach us a painful lesson in responsible reefkeeping? Will it begin to thrive and be an amazing addition? Stay tuned for updates...