Sand-sifting Starfish

The Sand-sifting Starfish is a valuable detritivore for aquariums with a deep, mature sand bed. It has a patterned, beige-to-grey body and spends its entire life buried just beneath the sand's surface, consuming detritus, uneaten food, and microfauna. This action helps keep the sand bed clean and aerated. It is reef-safe and peaceful, but it will starve in new or 'nano' tanks that lack sufficient food within the sand. An interesting fact is their method of reproduction; they will 'stand' on their arm-tips to release gametes into the water column, often in a coordinated event with other starfish in the tank.