id please is this a Asterina star

T

the floor guy

is this a good Asterina star

i read about them. i think i read if they are white there ok but brown bad this one looks brown on top with dots and is white on bottom i found them in a tank with lr i got for free should i keep them or trash them?
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I don't remember which is which, honestly - just that if I see it on a coral, then I pluck them off and banish them to the sump. Otherwise, they are all over my glass, eating algae.

Personally, I have only had ONE eating coral, and it was HUGE. To the sump, to the sump sump sump he went!
 
*nod* I don't think anyone's come up with a scientific means of differentiating them (if a means does exist). I've never had one eating coral, but I've seen all kinds of different colors.
 
I also have had several kinds and never seen one eating a live coral. That does not mean it has not happened to others and by which asterinas.
 
In my tank, the ones that look blue are the ones that eat some corals. I've seen them leave a trail of death in their wake. Crazy. The white ones and the tan ones are fine.

However, to add to the confusion, once you've pulled them out of your tank and looked at them under normal kitchen lighting, they no longer appear blue whatsoever, thus you'd think they were perfectly safe. However, they are not.

So I just watch for any that have a light blue hue to them, and if I see them where they have no business being, out they go.
 
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