I had never seen a baby starfish. Until this happened, I had not given much thought to how starfish reproduce either.
One day, just before feeding my clownfish, I spotted a white speck on the front glass of my reef tank.
There are random white bits on the glass and in the sump that I still cannot identify. They sometimes look a little like scale, so I assumed this was one of those and left it alone.
I figured I would clean it off at the next water change. A few hours after feeding, though, it was gone.
A few days later, I saw a similar speck in nearly the same spot. I looked closer this time and realized it was a tiny starfish.
There is one sand-sifting starfish in the tank now, although I originally brought home two. One did not settle in, gradually got smaller, and died. The other has been living in the tank for several months.
Part of me assumed I would need a pair if there were ever going to be babies, so it never occurred to me that I might see one. When I did, I mostly just stared at it. It was tiny, strange, and very cute.
They are easy to miss and only show up when they happen to be out in the open. That makes it more fun when I do spot one.
Later, while taking pictures of one, I spotted a second.
One was on the front glass, and the other was near the temperature-controller sensor.
My wife and I stood there looking at them for a while. They barely move, but that somehow makes them even cuter in person.
Before this, the starfish mostly gave me small moments of entertainment by climbing the glass and occasionally falling off. I did not expect a much bigger surprise from it.
A 45 cm cube is a small tank, but unexpected things still turn up. I have had a crab come out from between the rocks, a huge worm appear, and an anemone suddenly show itself.
This was a pleasant surprise.