How large do starfish get?

[Lady Hobbs]

I'm curious because the guy who took my silver dollars was telling me his son has a 400 gallon saltwater that has a star fish that's a foot across. He's had it for a long time. I was curious as to the size it may grow to.

[HomaridNoob6]

About a foot is what I would expect in a home aquarium, even a large one, although I have no experience so I dont know for sure. I have seen some really huge ones in the MBA (Monterey Bay Aquarium) right down the street, and some even bigger ones diving. I've seen a washed up starfish leg that was a bit over a foot itself, so they can definitely get huge, but who knows what the briney deep holds, there could be some down there 20 feet across! I'd imagine that starfish don't get stunted as easily as an actual "fish" so it probably mainly depends on the species and the health of the particular tank it lives in. Wouldn't mind a peek at that 400 gallon tank though, sounds interesting!

[Lady Hobbs]

Thank you. I didn't realize they got so large. He said the thing is awesome at feeding time and comes up out of the sand like an octopus.

[bigbad-ratman]

yeah i have seen some washed up that were at least foot and a half across the middle segment. some of them get quite big. i believe it all depends on food though.

[sunfishman]

my grandmother had found a dead sugar star that was the better part of 2 feet. i don't know if they do this in captivity, though

[labnjab]

We have 2 brittle stars, one in each reef, and one is 10 inches or more and the other is 6-8 inches, but you'd never know they were that big cause all you see is one or 2 arms poking out at a time. They can fit in just about any crack

[kaybee]

...I was curious as to the size it may grow to.

The species of starfish is a major variable as well. Some starfish only get to a certain size, others get huge because that's a characteristic of that particular species.

[Amazon]

brittle starfish can get very large. mine is about 6.5in. across

[vegas2k]

About a foot is what I would expect in a home aquarium, even a large one, although I have no experience so I dont know for sure. I have seen some really huge ones in the MBA (Monterey Bay Aquarium) right down the street, and some even bigger ones diving. I've seen a washed up starfish leg that was a bit over a foot itself, so they can definitely get huge, but who knows what the briney deep holds, there could be some down there 20 feet across! I'd imagine that starfish don't get stunted as easily as an actual "fish" so it probably mainly depends on the species and the health of the particular tank it lives in. Wouldn't mind a peek at that 400 gallon tank though, sounds interesting!


damn you're lucky. I been there once, loved it...I want to go back again one day...I can't believe they actually had a display created for salmon to go upstream to spawn..it was incredible!