Crown-of-thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci)
Image Copyright Jonathan Milnes
Observed: Koh Chang Reefs, December 2015
Observed By: Jonathan Milnes
The Crown-of-thorns starfish is a large 25-25cm wide starfish that is a voracious predator that feeds on corals.
It is named after the biblical crown of thorns since that is what its poisonous thorn-like spines resemble.
The crown-of-thorns has a few natural predators (although some species of triggerfish and snails feed on them) and so populations can grow to such high numbers that they can totally destroy coral reefs. So large numbers of crown-of-thorns seastar are a very bad thing for a coral reef and it is not uncommon for people to take action to control their numbers thus protecting the reef itself.
Crown-of-thorns Starfish Wikipedia
Image Copyright Jonathan Milnes
Image Copyright Jonathan Milnes
