Do Octopus Eat Starfish?

When choosing an exotic pet, many people turn to salt water aquariums. One of the most mysterious salt water creatures is the octopus, living primarily in the dark and able to hide in the smallest of places. When setting up a tank for your octopus it is important to choose the proper tank mates and to know whether that starfish you added is in danger of being eaten.

  1. The Octopus as Predator

    • While the octopus is a predatory carnivore, it does not eat adult starfish. Octopuses are very curious and active animals that find much of their prey at night. Once an octopus has found its prey, it will wrap the meal with its tentacles and bite with its beak, located on the underside of the octopus' body in the center of the tentacles. The beak releases a venom that softens the inside of the prey, allowing the octopus to suck out the inside of the creature.

    Octopus Living Space

    • Octopuses live in salt water both in the wild and in captivity. In captivity it is especially important to provide high quality filtration and plenty of crevices or holes for an octopus to hide in. Octopuses are able to find their way into very small holes and are very interactive and curious creatures. Providing a varied living space with many areas to explore is essential for the development of an octopus.

    Octopus and Starfish

    • According to the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, starfish are acceptable tank mates for octopuses as the two typically will not bother one another. While the octopus will not eat the starfish, it is possible for an aggressive species of starfish to eat an octopus by trapping it in a hole and consuming the octopus when it attempts to escape. Most species, however, can live together peacefully.

    Octopus Diet

    • The typical diet of an octopus includes crabs, scallops, mussels, snails and shrimp. These creatures are small enough to be easy prey and are easy for the octopus to find at night. When given the opportunity, an octopus will also eat small fish and turtles and, in a dispute or under stressful circumstances, will even eat other octopus. They will not eat grown starfish.