Can Anemones eat Starfish and Horseshoe Crabs?

[KingMinnow]

I recently put 3 bubble tip anemones in my 180 FOWLR tank. I had a horseshoe crab, a chocolate chip star, and a red ornate star (kinda looked like the chocolate chip one). Anyway, today I bought another horseshoe crab and now BOTH are missing. I also can't find my red ornate star, and he as almost as big as your hand. Where could these creatures have gone?

Do anemones eat these creatures? Only other things I have in the tank are Tangs, Damsels, and a Foxface.... WTF?

Thanks,
Nick

[Ninong]

I find it hard to believe that an Entacmaea quadricolor did it. Anemones will someones eat things that we would rather they not eat but it most of those cases we're talking about fairly large anemones, especially carpets.

We did have a report from one of our members that his anemone ate his blue ringed octopus. That was a first!

[Hunner7]

I find it hard to believe that an Entacmaea quadricolor did it. Anemones will someones eat things that we would rather they not eat but it most of those cases we're talking about fairly large anemones, especially carpets.

We did have a report from one of our members that his anemone ate his blue ringed octopus. That was a first!

WHAT?! blue ringed octupus Can kill people in a matter of minutes..

Why would someone Have one?... not to mention the anemone would get facerolled by the octupus...... that is SCARY!

[Ninong]

The blue-ringed octopus was eaten by a large Entacmaea quadricolor anemone. The octopus was startled by something at one end of the tank and it accidentally swam directly into the anemone at the other end of the tank, which swallowed it immediately. The anemone survived the encounter, the octopus did not.

As to why anyone would keep a blue-ringed octopus, that's a very good question. We asked the reefkeeper in question why he kept it and he said he it was because he liked to see it change colors. Surprisingly enough, it was his second blue-ringed octopus. The first one escaped from the tank. The tank was not an indoor tank; it was kept outside behind the garage in the garden. The reefkeeper lives in a tropical climate. This is the original thread from nine years ago.

We did an internet search at the time and found that at least one American online vendor listed blue-ringed octopuses for sale without even posting a warning. I don't think that vendor is still in business.

By the way, I assume you noticed that this is a five-year-old thread.

[TheMarineGuy]

wow i just read that 9 year old thread on the blue ring getting ate....thats pretty increadible....

[Ninong]

wow i just read that 9 year old thread on the blue ring getting ate....thats pretty increadible....

Yes, it was both incredible and ridiculous at the same time, especially the fact that this was his second blue-ringed octopus because the first one escaped from the tank!!!