Acanthaster planci

Acanthasteridae
Crown-of-thorns Seastar, Coral-eating Starfish, Coral-feeding Starfish, Giant Thorny Starfish
  • Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
    Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
  • Acanthaster planci, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
    Acanthaster planci, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
  • Acanthaster planci, Aceh, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
    Acanthaster planci, Aceh, Indonesia, Photo: Graham Edgar
  • Acanthaster planci, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
    Acanthaster planci, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
  • Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
    Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
  • Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
    Acanthaster planci, Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar
  • Acanthaster planci, Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
    Acanthaster planci, Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
  • Acanthaster planci, Lord Howe Is, NSW, Photo: Andrew Green
    Acanthaster planci, Lord Howe Is, NSW, Photo: Andrew Green
Distribution
Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Large heavy bodied starfish, with numerous stout arms. Covered with thick sharp spines, which are venomous. Variable colouring. Feeds on hard corals by everting it's stomach, and occasionally occurs in plague proportions, devastating the reef.
Information
  • Max Size: 80 cm
  • Sea Temperature Range: 19.1-31.1°C
  • Depth: 0-65m
  • Habitat: Coral Reef
Rarity
  • IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
  • Occurrence: Infrequent (7% of sites)
    Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
  • Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
    Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields
Report an Error
Further Information:
Copyright:
Copyright to the photographs on this site belongs solely to the credited photographers. Any requests for usage can be directed to the photographer through [email protected].

Please use this form only for a single type of error. If you see multiple errors on the page for this species, please report these in separate forms by clicking on this button again after submitting this form


Thank you for highlighting this error. We appreciate your assistance in maintaining high quality control standards

Copyright Reef Life Survey 2019
Made by Forte Web Design
Forte Web Design support RLS
Supported by The Ian Potter Foundation