Red African starfish

Care at a glance

The red African starfish is grey with a network of red bands and black knobs, and it is one of the easiest starfish to keep alive. It eats almost anything that lands on the bottom and quickly takes pieces of fish, mussel and shrimp.

That same appetite is what rules it out for a reef tank: corals, anemones, clams and slow snails are on its menu too. In a fish-only tank without invertebrates it is a hardy, eye-catching resident, as long as it gets enough room and regular feeding.

Good to know

• Preys on shrimp and snails

Best not combined with

• Harlequin shrimpHymenocera picta

Related species

• Archaster sand starArchaster typicus
• Indian sea starFromia indica
• Fromia starfish (orange marble)Fromia monilis
• Spotted Linckia starfishLinckia multifora
• Blue Linckia starfishLinckia laevigata
• Luzon starfishEchinaster luzonicus