Atlantic Star Snail (Astraea phoebia) Care Guide
Astraea phoebia, the spiny star astraea, is a Caribbean snail with star-shaped shell projections, kept as a grazer of hair algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Astraea phoebia, the spiny or long-spined star astraea, is a Caribbean turban snail with a pyramid-shaped shell bearing pronounced star-shaped projections, in shades of green, yellow and tan. It is a highly effective algae-eating snail in reef and marine aquariums and, like the related Astraea/Lithopoma snails, has difficulty righting itself if overturned.
Taxonomy
- Family: Turbinidae
- Genus: Astraea
- Scientific name: Astraea phoebia
Habitat
The species is native to the Caribbean, where it inhabits rocky intertidal zones and coral reefs, especially shallow areas where algae- and diatom-covered rock and rubble accumulate.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 60 L
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 8-12
- Specific gravity: 1.024-1.026
- Adult shell size: 3-5 cm
- Lifespan: 1-3 years
Diet
This small herbivore prefers to feed on nuisance hair algae as well as cyanobacteria and diatoms, grazing rock and glass surfaces. In tanks with little algae, supplemental feeding is needed.
Compatibility
It is peaceful and reef-safe. As with other astraea-type snails it has difficulty righting itself when overturned, so flipped individuals should be returned to their foot and hermit crabs are best avoided. Predatory fish such as triggerfish and pufferfish should also be avoided.
Atlantic Star Snail (Astraea phoebia): Breeding Notes
Overview
Astraea phoebia (now Lithopoma phoebium), the longspine star shell, is a Tropical Western Atlantic turban snail of the family Turbinidae, ranging through the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles. Its shell, bearing star-shaped spines, reaches up to 76 mm, and it occurs from 0 to about 91 m depth. It is kept in reef tanks as an algae grazer.
Sexing
Star snails have separate sexes with no reliable external differences; sex is apparent only when gametes are released during spawning.
Spawning & Eggs/Larvae
Fertilization is external. Eggs develop through a trochophore into a non-feeding (lecithotrophic) veliger that drifts in the plankton for only about three to five days before settling; no trochoidean veligers are known to feed. This short pelagic phase is characteristic of tropical turbinids.
Common Challenges
The brief planktonic veliger stage is still removed by filtration, flow and predators in a typical reef tank, so self-sustaining populations are not realistic for hobbyists.