Seen this starfish at Flower Gardens?

[archman]

This colorful little starfish (Mithrodia clavigera) has recently been collected from Stetson Bank. Has anyone diving the Flower Garden Banks Sanctuary ever seen anything that looks same/similar? If so, could you please provide any details about the date or specific location (eg buoy#), habitat preference, blah blah.

 

[justleesa]

looks like the ones we have here

 

[archman]

It's a cosmopolitan tropical, but isn't well known in the Atlantic.

 

[Debraw]

I have not seen that STarfish yet. I am headed there on a 3 day trip starting Sunday night. I will keep my eye out.

 

[Rick Murchison]

This colorful little starfish (Mithrodia clavigera) has recently been collected from Stetson Bank. Has anyone diving the Flower Garden Banks Sanctuary ever seen anything that looks same/similar? If so, could you please provide any details about the date or specific location (eg buoy#), habitat preference, blah blah.

Now that one's a bit of a surprise... I don't think I've seen it anywhere in the Gulf. I do think I've seen it (or something awfully similar) in the PI...
Recent introduction, do you think?
Rick

 

[archman]

The two I've got are small and probably young. Since they've been previously known from parts of the Yucatan and Caribbean (although spottily sampled), I'm thinking that a particularly strong current recently dumped the larvae into the northern Gulf of Mexico.

If someone finds a *big one*, I need a new theory.

 

[acj]

Archman - sounds as though we are in the same business. Spent lots of time at the Flower Gardens monitoring, I have never seen this out there and I dont think my coworkers have either.

I'd have to agree with you theory.

 

[texdiveguy]

I have only seen something similar to it at Murdock's Bathhouse gifts in Galveston .

 

[Rick Murchison]

The two I've got are small and probably young. Since they've been previously known from parts of the Yucatan and Caribbean (although spottily sampled), I'm thinking that a particularly strong current recently dumped the larvae into the northern Gulf of Mexico.

If someone finds a *big one*, I need a new theory.

Yess, yesssss.... now here's a thought...
Let's back up to the ice age, when I think we can safely say there were no corals at the Flower Gardens. As the glaciers melted, I suspect that Flower Garden temps were cool enough to prevent any tropical coral there for quite a while after the seas covered the domes , and that the tropical corals we see there now probably got there in "particularly strong currents" carrying larvae further than their normal survival range rather than by migrating along shallow enough structure - 'cause there ain't any .
But now... now we've constructed stepping stones, haven't we? I wonder what interesting population densities (and density changes) we might find over the years if we were to monitor the rigs between the Yucatan and Port Arthur???
Get me a grant!
Rick

 

[Guba]

Well, actually, Rick, there were corals at the Flower Gardens during the last ice ages. Of course, they were much farther down--deeper--than the current ones. The area covered by coral now is actually built upon those earlier ones that were "drowned" as the ice cap receded and the sea level rose.
As for your hypothesis about rigs and presumably the migration of species from south to north along them, that's an idea we've tossed around more than once while on science excursions with the FGBNMS. The theory--loosely deemed "islands of life" is that the rigs/platforms do indeed serve as "stepping stones" for life forms ranging from coral to fish species and that the organisms slowly but steadily encroach farther and farther north. I've said for years that when I retire I want to go for a thesis on this topic. By the way, there are numerous monitoring excursions every year to document the species present and add to an ongoing database for analysis.
The theory could explain the new starfish species and others, including the conch that only showed up in the FG several years ago. Now there are thriving populations.
Of course, they could also have arrived as larvae in passing freighters that flush ballast water as they pass close. Still, it's a very intriguing theory.
Uh, by the way...I'm assuming when archman said "the two I've got...", he meant on film or tape. The FG is, after all, a national marine sanctuary and as such has very strict No-Take regulations (unless he's with sanctuary staff who have the appropriate credentials AND permits). Just so first-timers visiting the FG don't get the wrong idea and collect something that could get them in big trouble.