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Blue Linckia Starfish
Linckia laevigata
The Blue Linckia Starfish is a stunning, electric-blue echinoderm that requires a massive, mature reef tank and extreme water parameter stability to survive.
Class:Asteroidea
Order:Valvatida
Family:Ophidiasteridae
Genus:Linckia
Species:Linckia laevigata
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Water Temperature
22 - 26 °C
pH Value
8.1 - 8.4
Water type
Marine
Adult size
40 cm
Minimum group
>= 1
KH
8 - 12 dKH
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Linckia laevigata is widely distributed in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the eastern coast of Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia. It inhabits shallow, sunlit reef crests, sandy lagoons, and rocky environments at depths from 0 to 20 meters, preferring areas with constant water movement and high light levels.
Taxonomy: Belongs to the class Asteroidea, order Valvatida, and family Ophidiasteridae. Commonly called the blue starfish. It features a solid body with five cylindrical, elongated arms radiating from a small central disc. The body surface is granular and velvety. It can reach a diameter of 30-40 cm.
Social Behavior: It is a solitary, slow-moving, and peaceful organism. It spends its time gliding over live rocks and sandy substrate, searching for bacterial biofilm, microalgae, and organic detritus. It does not disturb corals or other tankmates, being entirely reef-safe.
Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: The most common coloration is a uniform, brilliant electric-blue, although color variations (pink, orange, or light purple) exist depending on regional populations. There is no visible sexual dimorphism; males and females are identical, and sex can only be determined by gamete examination during spawning.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Tank Setup: A mature, well-established reef aquarium of at least 400 liters is required, running for at least a year. A large amount of premium live rock (at least 40-50 kg) is mandatory to provide a sufficient surface area for grazing on natural bacterial films and microalgae.
Diet and Feeding: A specialized biofilm grazer and detritivore. The primary cause of death in aquariums is starvation, as it rarely accepts commercial foods or frozen preparations. It cannot be hand-fed. Its survival relies entirely on the natural microflora growing on mature live rocks in stable systems.
Water Quality: Extremely sensitive to water chemistry fluctuations. Requires a stable specific gravity (SG) of 1.025, pH of 8.2-8.4, and temperature of 24-26°C. Copper and medications are highly toxic. Acclimation must be done via a very slow drip process (at least 3-4 hours) to prevent osmotic shock.
Compatibility and Tankmates: Completely peaceful and safe for corals. However, it must be kept away from natural predators such as puffers, triggerfish, large crabs, and especially harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta), which feed exclusively on starfish. Avoid aggressive fish that might peck at its limbs.
Aquarium Breeding: Sexual reproduction occurs via broadcast spawning in the wild. In captivity, reproduction is almost exclusively asexual through fission (autotomy), where the starfish sheds an arm, which slowly regenerates into a new complete individual. This regeneration process takes several months.
Risks and Diseases: The main threat is osmotic shock from rapid salinity changes, which leads to rapid tissue necrosis (disintegration and melting within days). It is susceptible to parasitic snails like Thyca crystallina, and opportunistic bacterial infections of the tube feet.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Linckia laevigata is widely distributed in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the eastern coast of Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia. It inhabits shallow, sunlit reef crests, sandy lagoons, and rocky environments at depths from 0 to 20 meters, preferring areas with constant water movement and high light levels.
Origin
Tropical oceans and reefsAfrica and Madagascar
Invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Ecological role
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 40 cm
- Jump risk
- No verified data available
- Shock sensitivity
- No verified data available
- Calcium and minerals
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Compatibility & tankmates
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 40 cm. The MOBS marine organism body-size database source reports a maximum adult measurement of 40 cm for this species, recorded as the dataset's reported length dimension. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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