Will a brittle star's tentacle grow a new body?

.223NATO · 04/26/2006, 12:57 PM

I put a brittle star in my tank (not sure what species or anything) but soon after it shed one of it's tmetacles and then it began to lay upside down in some rockwork on the sand bed. A few days later I found him half eaten by what I have no idea... He was howeve still alive and when I went to extract the first shed tentacle out of my tank it wrapped around my finger and just about gave me a heart attack! it has been about two weeks now and the tentacle is still alive and well haha. I have about three of them that are just moving around in my tank.... So I was wondering if they will grow a new body and eventually a whole new star fish or just eventually die?

bertoni · 04/26/2006, 11:52 PM

The tentacle will die eventually, but the body will regenerate a new arm if it survives and gets proper food, etc.

04/26/2006, 12:57 PM	#1
.223NATO Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 23	Will a brittle star's tentacle grow a new body? I put a brittle star in my tank (not sure what species or anything) but soon after it shed one of it's tmetacles and then it began to lay upside down in some rockwork on the sand bed. A few days later I found him half eaten by what I have no idea... He was howeve still alive and when I went to extract the first shed tentacle out of my tank it wrapped around my finger and just about gave me a heart attack! it has been about two weeks now and the tentacle is still alive and well haha. I have about three of them that are just moving around in my tank.... So I was wondering if they will grow a new body and eventually a whole new star fish or just eventually die?

04/26/2006, 11:52 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The tentacle will die eventually, but the body will regenerate a new arm if it survives and gets proper food, etc. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni