the project

What I'm doing...

Asterina sp.

I am going to take two types of sea stars from an established aquarium. The two types came in on live rock as hitchhikers and have since multiplied, and they are the small Asterina sp. and the small black brittle star (unknown scientific name.) I am putting both types in the same ten gallon tank to monitor behavior towards different species, sexual reproduction, preference to different food types, and most importantly, asexual reproduction.

A small black brittle star

The asexual reproduction portion of the project is going to be difficult... I am monitoring both the asexual reproduction rates naturally instigated by the sea stars and the growth rate of the stars after I have initiated the asexual reproduction. After monitoring the stars for a couple weeks, I am going to start the division process.

The division process is basically going to be me cutting up sea stars. I know, I sound like a sadistic animal torturer... but after much research I learned that they actually don't feel a thing. And since they remove their limbs voluntarily in the wild, what's the harm in me cutting some off?

I am going to post some pictures of the anatomy of sea stars later, and explain how I'm going to divide the stars.