Acanthaster
Genus of starfishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star"[2]) 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.[3]
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| Acanthaster | |
|---|---|
| |
| Acanthaster mauritiensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Echinodermata |
| Class: | Asteroidea |
| Order: | Valvatida |
| Family: | Acanthasteridae |
| Genus: | Acanthaster Gervais, 1841[1] |
| Species | |
|
2, See text. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
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.[3][4][5]
Species
These species are listed in the World Register of Marine Species:[1]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
 | Acanthaster brevispinus Fisher, 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.[6]
Haszprunar, Vogler & Wörheide (2017)[7] 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[8]—Red Sea (max. 14 arms).
Acanthaster planci stricto sensu (Thailand).
Lab hybrid of A. planci and A. brevispinus[9]
Acanthaster planci "ellisi" from the Gulf of California.
Acanthaster planci "solaris" from Fidji.
Acanthaster planci "mauritiensis" from Baja California.
Acanthaster benziei from Red Sea.
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