Multicolor sea star
Linckia multifora
Also known as Dwarf Linckia, Red Linckia Star, Comet Sea Star, Mottled Linckia, Orange Linckia Star
SaltwaterInvertebrate
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–81°F
- 24–27°C
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- Adult size
- 5.1 in
- 13 cm
- Minimum tank
- 53 gal
- 200 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Difficulty
- Difficult
- Breeding
- Hard
- Rarity
- Common
- Reef safe
- Reef safe
- Family
- Ophidiasteridae
- Origin
- Indo-Pacific, on shallow reef flats and rubble.
Overview
The multicolor sea star is a small, peaceful grazer for an established saltwater tank with lots of rock. It is difficult to keep and best left to experienced keepers.
Did you know
The regrowing arm of a multicolor sea star is called a comet, and one animal can slowly clone itself across a tank this way.
Caring for the multicolor sea star
Keep the multicolor sea star in a mature tank of at least 53 gal (200 L). Give it plenty of live rock to graze.
Hold the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. It is very sensitive to swings in salinity, temperature and pH, so drip acclimate it slowly over an hour or more.
It roams rock and glass, grazing the fine film that coats mature surfaces. It feeds on biofilm, tiny sponges and detritus rather than prepared food. It starves in young or overly clean tanks.
It is peaceful and reef safe, and it ignores corals. It reproduces by fission, dropping an arm that regrows a whole new star from the single limb. Breeding it is rated hard.
Good to know
Linckia multifora, the multicolor sea star, belongs to the family Ophidiasteridae. It is small and slender, with five thin arms, and usually mottled in pink, red, tan and gray with tiny red flecks. It is smaller and more delicate than its popular relative, the blue linckia. Other names for it include dwarf linckia, red linckia star, comet sea star, mottled linckia and orange linckia star.
In the wild
The multicolor sea star comes from the Indo-Pacific, where it lives on shallow reef flats and rubble. Lopsided comet stars, with arms of different lengths, are a common find in the wild.
Common questions
What size tank does a multicolor sea star need?
A multicolor sea star needs at least 53 gal (200 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.
What temperature and pH does a multicolor sea star need?
A multicolor sea star is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.
What does a multicolor sea star eat?
A multicolor sea star grazes the fine film on mature rock and glass, eating biofilm, tiny sponges and detritus. It does not live on prepared food.
How big does a multicolor sea star get?
An adult multicolor sea star reaches about 5.1 in (13 cm).
How does a multicolor sea star breed?
A multicolor sea star reproduces by fission. It drops an arm, and that single limb regrows a whole new star. Breeding it is rated hard.
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