Cushion star

Care at a glance

The cushion star hardly looks like a starfish: its arms are so short that the animal resembles a thick, pentagonal cushion. Juveniles are still clearly star-shaped and are often sold without a word about how big they get.

In the wild it mainly eats stony corals, and it does the same in an aquarium. So it does not belong in a reef tank. Anyone who wants to keep one needs a large fish tank with plenty of live rock, and should target-feed it with mussel, shrimp and other meaty food.

Good to know

• Preys on shrimp and snails
• Outgrows most home tanks

Best not combined with

• Harlequin shrimpHymenocera picta

Related species

• Doughboy starfishChoriaster granulatus
• Tigertail sea cucumberHolothuria hilla
• Luzon starfishEchinaster luzonicus
• Sea applePseudocolochirus violaceus
• Sea hareDolabella auricularia
• Spotted Linckia starfishLinckia multifora