Description
Basket starfish, Astrophyton muricatum, are an unusual starfish found throughout Florida and the Caribbean. By day they are usually a tightly coiled into a ball hidden under a rock, or clumped up on a gorgonian, but by night they open up into a mass of waving arms that feed on plankton. They can get quite big, but we select smaller ones that are more suitable for most aquariums. The average size we sell open up to about 4″ to 5″ and have a central disk that is about an 0.5 inches in diameter.
Basket stars are easy to care for and will actively feed on most foods at night when the lights are out. They can be coaxed into feeding during the day, but they are nocturnal feeders so that would be the best time to feed them.
Marcella –
Really cool starfish. When it is opened up it reminds me of a lace doily. Its a light pink color but if you look closely it looks like it has stripes. During the day it likes to hang out in my yellow finger gorgonia or the purple feather. At night or just before turning on the tank its pretty amazing to watch unfurl its legs and move around the tank.
This morning I turned the tank lights on and saw it on top of my rock completely vertical and open. It was unexpected and pretty cool to see! Then it went into the gorgonia and curled up into a ball. lol
michael mattox –
This dude is awesome. Opens up and fans itself out to catch particulates from the water. If you get one get a Purple Plume Gorgonia to go with it. The basket star will host in it, and the camo the star displays is perfect. It matches the color of the gorgonia amazingly well. My wife was wondering where the star went and she looked at the gorgonian for about 10 minutes before she could locate it. This was during the day while the star was “closed”. At night it is more conspicuous since the star will open up. Really cool colors on this guy. Just remember to feed the tank some good plankton type supplement daily.
Jessie Bohnenkamp –
Wow. This star might make me addicted to aquarium watching. Photo does it no justice (as remarked before) – expect to be very pleasantly surprised.
Red Angel –
Weird, kids love it I thought I had seen it all till now, We call him the Sea serpent
Denise Whatley –
I will be getting another basket star on my next order. The photo does not do them justice. When it is feeding (or annoyed) it looks like purple Queen Anne’s Lace. When it is sleeping, it is very unusual looking with a slight suggestion of an octopus. It is rapidly becoming my favorite star, putting my harlequins in second place.