Animalia > Echinodermata > Asteroidea > Valvatida > Acanthasteridae > Acanthaster > Acanthaster planci
 

Acanthaster planci (crown-of-thorns starfish)

Synonyms: Acanthaster echinites; Acanthaster echinus; Acanthaster ellisi; Acanthaster mauritiensis; Acanthaster pseudoplanci; Acanthaster solaris; Asterias echinites; Asterias echinusellis; Asterias planci; Asterias solaris; Stellonia echinites

Invasive Species

Coral gardens from Micronesia and Polynesia provide valuable marine resources for local communities and environments for native marine species such as marine fish. In coral ecosystems already affected by coral bleaching, excess tourism and natural events such as storms and El Nino, the effects of the invasive coral-feeding starfish (Acanthaster planci) on native coral communities contributes to an already dire state of affairs. Acanthaster planci significantly threatens the viability of these fragile coral ecosystems, and damage to coral gardens by the starfish has been quite extensive in some reef systems.
View ISSG Record: Acanthaster planci

Attributes

Water Biome [1]  Reef, Coastal

Ecosystems

Prey / Diet

Neogoniolithon brassica-florida[2]

Predators

Charonia tritonis (Atlantic trumpet triton)[2]
Cheilinus undulatus (Blue-tooth groper)[2]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Pterastericola vivipara[3]

Institutions (Zoos, etc.)

    Maps
Institution Infraspecies / Breed 
Bristol Zoo Gardens
Burger's Zoo
John G. Shedd Aquarium

Distribution

West Indian Ocean; Mascarene Basin; Eastern Africa & Madagascar; Red Sea; Kenya; Red Sea; Aldabra; Red Sea; Seychelles; Seychelles; Aldabra; Chagos; Cargados Carajos; Mozambique; Madagascar; Aldabra; Red Sea; West Indian Ocean; Mozambique; Tanzania; Mauritius; Madagascar; Palau Islands; New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone;

Photos

Citations

Species recognized by Mah C., 2009-01-30 04:03:03, WoRMS Asteroidea: World Asteroidea database in Catalog of Life 2011
Attributes / relations provided by 1Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org 2Clownfish and their Host Anemones ;; NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program 3Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Invasive Status provided by Global Invasive Species Database Downloaded on 10 May 2011.
Images provided by Google Image Search
Weather provided by NOAA METAR Data Access
Institution information provided by International Species Information System - May 2011