Acanthaster

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Acanthaster
Acanthaster planci
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Valvatida
Family: Acanthasteridae
Genus: Acanthaster
Gervais, 1841[1]
Species
2, See text.
Synonyms[1]
  • Echinaster Gray, 1840
  • Echinities Müller & Troschel, 1844

Acanthaster is a bitypic

its own family, Acanthasteridae. Its two members are known as crown-of-thorns starfish. Acanthaster are native to coral reefs in Indo-Pacific region.[2]

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.[2][3][4]

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) but it is now considered as a subspecies of A. planci in the eastern Pacific.[5]

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)[6] 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[7]—Red Sea (max. 14 arms).

References

  1. ^ a b c Mah, 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
  2. ^
    S2CID 202015281
    .
  3. ISSN 0025-3162
    .
  4. S2CID 102484339
    .
  5. ^ "Acanthaster ellisi". The World Asteroidea Database. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  6. doi:10.3390/d9020022
    .
  7. ^ Gert Wörheide, Emilie Kaltenbacher, Zara-Louise Cowan et Gerhard Haszprunar, « A new species of crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster benziei sp. nov. (Valvatida: Acanthasteridae), from the Red Sea », Zootaxa, 2022
  8. S2CID 4218030
    .


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