Acanthaster
Sign in to saveAcanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star") 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.
Taxonomy · GBIF
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumEchinodermata
- ClassAsteroidea
- OrderValvatida
- FamilyAcanthasteridae
via GBIF · CC0
Article
2 sectionsContents
- Species
- References
Acanthaster (from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine, thorn", and ἀστήρ (astḗr), meaning "star") 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.
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.