Acanthaster

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Acanthaster planci, étoiles mangeuses de corail.jpeg

| taxon = Acanthaster

| authority = Gervais, 1841Mah, C. (2012). Acanthaster Gervais, 1841. In: Mah, C.L. (2012). World Asteroidea database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205212 on 2012-03-23

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = {{center|2, See text.}}

| synonyms = *Echinaster Gray, 1840

Echinities Müller & Troschel, 1844

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Acanthaster is a bitypic genus of large and venomous starfish placed in its own family, Acanthasteridae. Its two members are known as crown-of-thorns starfish. Acanthaster are native to coral reefs in Indo-Pacific region.{{Cite journal|last1=Pratchett|first1=Morgan S.|last2=Cumming|first2=Graeme S.|date=October 2019|title=Managing cross-scale dynamics in marine conservation: Pest irruptions and lessons from culling of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.)|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=238|pages=108211|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108211|bibcode=2019BCons.23808211P |s2cid=202015281 |issn=0006-3207}}

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.{{Cite journal|last1=Uthicke|first1=Sven|last2=Fisher|first2=Eric E.|last3=Patel|first3=Frances|last4=Diaz-Guijarro|first4=Beatriz|last5=Doyle|first5=Jason R.|last6=Messmer|first6=Vanessa|last7=Pratchett|first7=Morgan S.|date=2019-09-30|title=Spawning time of Acanthaster cf. solaris on the Great Barrier Reef inferred using qPCR quantification of embryos and larvae: do they know it's Christmas?|journal=Marine Biology|volume=166|issue=10|page=133 |doi=10.1007/s00227-019-3582-5|issn=0025-3162|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019MarBi.166..133U }}{{Cite journal|last1=Gilmour|first1=James P.|last2=Cook|first2=Kylie L.|last3=Ryan|first3=Nicole M.|last4=Puotinen|first4=Marjetta L.|last5=Green|first5=Rebecca H.|last6=Shedrawi|first6=George|last7=Hobbs|first7=Jean-Paul A.|last8=Thomson|first8=Damian P.|last9=Babcock|first9=Russell C.|last10=Buckee|first10=Joanna|last11=Foster|first11=Taryn|date=2019-08-01|title=The state of Western Australia's coral reefs|journal=Coral Reefs|language=en|volume=38|issue=4|pages=651–667|doi=10.1007/s00338-019-01795-8|bibcode=2019CorRe..38..651G |s2cid=102484339|issn=1432-0975}}

Species

These species are listed in the World Register of Marine Species:

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
class="wikitable"
120px	Acanthaster brevispinus Fisher, 1917	western Pacific Ocean, southeast Asia
120px	Acanthaster planci (Linnaeus, 1758)	Indo-Pacific

The Acanthaster planci reproduces through mass spawning in the water, which are influenced by different environmental cues such as changes in water temperatures and lunar events.{{cite journal |last1=Uthicke |first1=Sven |title=Spawning time of Acanthaster cf. solaris on the Great Barrier Reef inferred using qPCR quantification of embryos and larvae: do they know it's Christmas? |journal=Marine Biology |date=2019 |volume=166 |issue=10 |pages=85 |access-date=2025-03-21}}

Some sources add Acanthaster ellisi, (Gray, 1840) but it is now considered as a subspecies of A. planci in the eastern Pacific.{{cite web|url=http://www.marinespecies.org/asteroidea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=378570| title=Acanthaster ellisi| website=The World Asteroidea Database|access-date=20 September 2019}}

Recent molecular work has suggested that Acanthaster planci is a species complex of up to 4 different species that have yet to be separately described (Vogler et al., 2008).

Haszprunar, Vogler & Wörheide (2017){{cite journal |last1= Haszprunar |first1= Gerhard |last2= Vogler |first2= Catherine |last3= Wörheide |first3= Gert |date= 2017 |title= Persistent Gaps of Knowledge for Naming and Distinguishing Multiple Species of Crown-of-Thorns-Seastar in the Acanthaster planci Species Complex |url=http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/9/2/22/pdf |journal=Diversity |volume= 9 |issue= 2 |page= 22 |doi= 10.3390/d9020022 |access-date=|doi-access= free }} 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, 2022Gert Wörheide, Emilie Kaltenbacher, Zara-Louise Cowan et Gerhard Haszprunar, « [https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5209.3.7 A new species of crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (Valvatida: Acanthasteridae), from the Red Sea] », Zootaxa, 2022—Red Sea (max. 14 arms).

Image:Crown of Thorns-jonhanson.jpg|Acanthaster planci stricto sensu (Thailand).

Image:Crown of Thorns Starfish at Malapascuas Island v. II.jpg|Acanthaster brevispinus (Australia).

Image:Acanthaster brevispinus hybrid.JPG|Lab hybrid of A. planci and A. brevispinus{{cite journal |last1= Lucas |first1= J.S. |date= 1976 |title= Hybrid crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci X A. brevispinus) reared to maturity in the laboratory |journal= Nature |volume= 263 |issue= 5576|pages= 409–412 & cover|doi= 10.1038/263409a0 |pmid= 972678 |bibcode= 1976Natur.263..409L |s2cid= 4218030 }}

Image:Acanthaster ellisii.JPG|Acanthaster planci "ellisi" from the Gulf of California.

Image:CrownofThornsStarfish Fiji 2005-10-12.jpg|Acanthaster planci "solaris" from Fidji.

Image:Acanthaster planci mauritiensis.jpg|Acanthaster planci "mauritiensis" from La Réunion.

Image:Acanthaster egypt.JPG|Acanthaster benziei from Red Sea.

References

Category:Acanthasteridae