Blue Linckia starfish

Care at a glance

The blue Linckia starfish, with its even, vivid blue colour, is one of the most striking animals on the reef; that colour is rarely so intense in nature. It grazes microscopic growth off live rock and leaves corals alone.

Therein lies exactly its problem: it feeds so finely that you can hardly supplement it, and in a tank that is too young or too clean it slowly wastes away. Also acclimatise it very gradually to your water, because it tolerates swings in salinity exceptionally badly.

Good to know

• Needs a mature, stable tank

Best not combined with

• Harlequin shrimpHymenocera picta

Related species

• Chocolate chip starfishProtoreaster nodosus
• Fromia starfish (orange marble)Fromia monilis
• Archaster sand starArchaster typicus
• Pencil urchinEucidaris tribuloides
• Longspine urchinDiadema setosum
• Red African starfishProtoreaster linckii