Feather star regeneration?

[Still_human]

Do feather stars/crinoids regenerate into multiple individuals when cut up/losing arms? 

I have a piece that was left over from a very healthy somewhat "long lived" star(at least in captivity--in the store over a year and continuing to grow)that someone was apparently very rough with when buying...I guess it's really only part of an arm, definitely not even part directly connected to the body. I found it rolled up and still sometimes slightly moving it's little prickles, so I brought it home and figured I'd see what happens. It's been like 4 or 5 days, and although it's stayed mostly rolled up the whole time, it seems to be very active with its little spikes and little suction legs now, almost constant gently rhythmically moving them, as if it was a healthy live animal. I did NOT think they could regenerate

new bodies like some starfish can*. I was sure it was just going to dissolve, but I HALF expect it to grow into a whole animal now!

 

--as you can probably tell from the length/width, and that it only has a single branch division, it's clearly only the end of an arm. I'd guess maybe just 1/4 of the length of an arm.

 

*another question on the subject--chocolate chip stars, and similar "full bodied" starfish canNOT grow new arms/survive cutting, can they? Dealing with harlequin shrimp, I'm familiar with choc chip stars anatomy, and they're basically large hollow hard stars with some support structures, and filled with large gooey organs. Once opened in any way, they cannot seem to close off the gaping opening to the outside in any way, and their insides are basically loose to the world. They can't regrow, or even heal from cuttings, or breaks in the "armor", can they?

[ReefdUp]

I personally have no experience or advice to give... but I thought this article was pretty fascinating!! Please continue to share your experience.

 

Regeneration in Crinoids

[Still_human]

Ok, sadly as of today it's started to fall apart some. The main part is still mostly together, and it's still moving its stuff constantly like a healthy animal, and strangely the parts that have fallen apart are ALSO moving as it healthy. I poured some microvert over it, just in case it can somehow use it. I dunno, if that doesn't work I'm at a loss of what I can do for it, but it's really blowing my mind that it, and especially the smaller parts falling off, are still clearly very alive! I was pretty much sure it was going to grow back until this afternoon, now I think it's probably a losing battle, but I'll do what I can, and see how it goes:/

[Still_human]

On 8/31/2019 at 5:47 AM, ReefdUp said:

I personally have no experience or advice to give... but I thought this article was pretty fascinating!! Please continue to share your experience.

 

Regeneration in Crinoids

Thanks so much, I'll take a look:)

[Still_human]

lol I can barely follow that article! Too much unfamiliar scientific term usage! I did get the gist, but it doesn't seem to go over the regrowth of the full body, just of the arm.

[ReefdUp]

2 hours ago, Still_human said:

lol I can barely follow that article! Too much unfamiliar scientific term usage! I did get the gist, but it doesn't seem to go over the regrowth of the full body, just of the arm.

 

Oh I know - but it's still so interesting!  I thought I remembered reading something in there that seemed to give your situation hope (anatomy description or something), but I can't remember...and I really don't want to try to re-read that article.    But I'm guessing the lack of "and then the body regrew from all the arms we chopped off" stated in the article might hint otherwise.  :(

 

And it is probably a bad sign that parts are falling off (even if they are still moving) as I doubt it would be trying to self-amputate for any beneficial reason at this point.  Sorry.   

 

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

I have one. He only loose arms when stressed. They glow under blues for days but always melt after awhile. It is not a good sign when I see him loose arms.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

[Still_human]

On 9/4/2019 at 9:27 PM, ReefdUp said:

 

Oh I know - but it's still so interesting!  I thought I remembered reading something in there that seemed to give your situation hope (anatomy description or something), but I can't remember...and I really don't want to try to re-read that article.    But I'm guessing the lack of "and then the body regrew from all the arms we chopped off" stated in the article might hint otherwise.  :(

 

And it is probably a bad sign that parts are falling off (even if they are still moving) as I doubt it would be trying to self-amputate for any beneficial reason at this point.  Sorry.   

 

 

Yeah, you were right, it wasnt a good thing. It finished dissolving a couple days after it started dropping pieces:/

[ReefdUp]

3 hours ago, Still_human said:

Yeah, you were right, it wasnt a good thing. It finished dissolving a couple days after it started dropping pieces:/

 

I'm so sorry. That's too bad. Thank you for updating us as it may help someone in a similar situation in the future.

[Still_human]

13 hours ago, ReefdUp said:

 

I'm so sorry. That's too bad. Thank you for updating us as it may help someone in a similar situation in the future.

Thanks very much:) yeah, I was really expecting it to regenerate a body at that point, cause it was so active for SO long. As soon as I saw some parts falling off, I tried to be positive, but pretty much lost hope. Oh well. I’ll just get a full one someday:)