Acanthaster
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
Acanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star") is a bitypic genus of large and venomous starfish placed in the monotypic family, Acanthasteridae. Its two members are known as crown-of-thorns starfish. Acanthaster are native to coral reefs in Indo-Pacific region.
The species in this genus are a contributor to coral reef degradation because they prey on a large amount of live coral at high density.
Species
These species are listed in the World Register of Marine Species:
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Acanthaster brevispinusFisher, 1917 | western Pacific Ocean, southeast Asia | |
| Acanthaster planci(Linnaeus, 1758) | Indo-Pacific |
Some sources add Acanthaster ellisi, (Gray, 1840) in the eastern Pacific, but it is now considered as a subspecies of A. planci.
Haszprunar, Vogler & Wörheide (2017) suggest to split "A. planci" in :
- Acanthaster planci (Linnaeus, 1758) -- Northern Indian Ocean, always purple-blue and red
- Acanthaster mauritiensis de Loriol, 1885 -- Souther Indian Ocean
- Acanthaster solaris (Schreber, 1795) -- Pacific Ocean (max. 23 arms)
- Acanthaster benziei Wörheide, Kaltenbacher, Cowan & Haszprunar, 2022—Red Sea (max. 14 arms).
- Acanthaster planci stricto sensu (Thailand).
- Acanthaster brevispinus (Australia).
- Lab hybrid of A. planci and A. brevispinus
- Acanthaster planci "ellisi" from the Gulf of California.
- Acanthaster planci "solaris" from Fidji.
- Acanthaster planci "mauritiensis" from Baja California.
- Acanthaster benziei from Red Sea.