Wildlife
Crown-of-thorns starfish are one of the most damaging creatures of tropical coral reefs, particularly Australia's Great Barrier Reef. They are voracious predators that release the contents of their stomach on to the coral. Digestive juices then liquify the coral ready for consumption. A single individual can wipe out large areas in this way. They are almost completely covered in protective venomous spines capable of causing great pain in humans. Yet the crown-of-thorns starfish does have predators of its own, including molluscs, fish and worms.
Scientific name: Acanthaster planci
Rank: Species
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Killer crown of thorns
A venomous starfish throws up its own stomach to kill and eat coral.
A venomous starfish throws up its own stomach to kill and eat coral.
The Crown-of-thorns starfish can be found in a number of locations including: Australia, Great Barrier Reef, Indian subcontinent. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Crown-of-thorns starfish distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Acanthaster planci, commonly known as the crown-of-thorns starfish, is a large multi-armed starfish (or seastar) that usually preys upon hard,or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns receives its name from poisonous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface. It is the second largest sea star in the world. Only the sunflower seastar (Pycnopodia helianthoides) is larger.
A. plancí has a very wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It occurs at tropical and subtropical latitudes from the Red Sea and the east African coast across the Pacific Ocean, across the Indian Ocean to the west coast of Central America. It occurs where there are coral reefs or hard coral communities in this region.
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Predation defence
Carnivorous
Nocturnal
Egg layer
Predator
Chemical communication
Venomous