Acanthaster

Acanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star" ) is a genus of large and venomous starfish placed in the monotypic family, Acanthasteridae. Its members are known as crown-of-thorns starfish. Acanthaster are native to coral reefs in Indo-Pacific region and are generally confined to tropical seas where they inhabit coral reefs, usually in the littoral zone. However, one member, A. brevispinus has been recorded in deeper waters. The species feed on coral polyps and hence are a contributor to coral reef degradation as they prey on a large amount of live coral at high density.

Acanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star" ) is a genus of large and venomous starfish placed in the monotypic family, Acanthasteridae. Its members are known as crown-of-thorns starfish. Acanthaster are native to coral reefs in Indo-Pacific region and are generally confined to tropical seas where they inhabit coral reefs, usually in the littoral zone. However, one member, A. brevispinus has been recorded in deeper waters. The species feed on coral polyps and hence are a contributor to coral reef degradation as they prey on a large amount of live coral at high density. ==Species== 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 Acanthaster solaris (Schreber, 1795) , which is currently considered a synonym of A. planci, to be idntified as a separate species. Image:Acanthaster brevispinus hybrid.JPG|Lab hybrid of A. planci and A. brevispinus Image:Acanthaster ellisii.JPG|A. planci "ellisi" (Gulf of California) Image:CrownofThornsStarfish Fiji 2005-10-12.jpg|A. planci "solaris" (Fiji) ==References==

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