Culcita schmideliana

(Retzius, 1805)

Spiny Cushion Starfish

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea to Australia.

Size: 10 inches (25 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits coastal sandy areas and seagrass beds.

General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the home aquarium trade.

Best maintained in well-aged, fish-only aquariums, having wide open bottom substrates to traverse, as this is not a rock climber, and having formations containing algae films/organic films and no live corals as this species star will eat them.

Occasional feedings with algae pellets and small pieces of fish or mussel flesh is recommended.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Asteroidea

Order: Valvatida

Family: Oreasteridae

Genus: Culcita

FYI: In the wild, feeds on algae, sponges (having symbiotic alga), detritus and coral polyps.

Vulnerable to sudden salinity/specific gravity changes.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Diet: Omnivore

Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium

Coral Safe: No

Fish Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: No

Acclimation Time: Sensitive to specific gravity/salinity changes, therefore be sure to adjust the bag's water to that of the aquarium in which it will be placed by slowly adding small amounts of aquarium water to the bag every few minutes. In most cases, this process should take at least 15 minutes.

Aquarium Hardiness: Moderate

Temperature Range: 72 - 83°F (22 - 28°C)

Minimum Tank Size: 125 gallons

Specific Gravity: 1.023 - 1.025

pH: 8.0 - 8.4