Focus On: Crown of Thorns Starfish

Crown of Thorns Starfish have been one of the leading causes of coral cover losses in the Great Barrier Reef over the past 27 years. They occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, but can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities when the conditions are right.

AIMS runs a major Crown-of-Thorns Starfish monitoring program on the Reef, to determine the current state of outbreaks along the Reef, which factors influence the likelihood of a Crown-of-Thorns Starfish outbreak, and how long it takes coral to recover after an outbreak. For more information on this program, visit the Monitoring Crown-of-Thorns Starfish on the Great Barrier Reef page on the AIMS website. 

All articles below are from journals that AIMS is subscribed to, and should therefore be freely accessible by AIMS staff.

Please note the publication dates on these articles as many are older articles. 

C Johnson (1992) Settlement and recruitment of Acanthatser planci on the Great Barrier Reef: questions of process and scale, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 43, Number 3, 611-627 Link to Abstract/Full Text

David W. Souter, Ann M. Cameron, R. Endean (1997) Implications of sublethal predation, autotomy and regeneration: pigment bands on their spines can not be used to determine the ages of adult specimens of the corallivore Acanthaster planci, Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 48, Number 4, 321-328 Link to Abstract/Full Text

D Fisk (1992) Short Communication: Recruitment of Acanthaster planci over a five-year period at Green Island Reef, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 43, Number 3, 629-633 Link to Abstract/Full Text

D. J. Barnes, R. W. Brauer and M. R. Jordan (1970) Field and Laboratory Observations of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci: Locomotory Response of Acanthaster planci to Various Species of Coral, Nature, Volume 228, 342–344 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Elisabetta B. Morello1, Éva E. Plagányi, Russell C. Babcock, Hugh Sweatman, Richard Hillary, André E. Punt (2014) Model to manage and reduce crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. MEPS, Volume 512, 167-183 Link to Abstract/Full Text

E Wolanski (1993) Facts and numerical artefacts in modelling the dispersal of crown-of-thorns starfish larvae in the Great Barrier Reef, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 44, Number 3, 427-436 Link to Abstract/Full Text

G. De'ath, P.J. Moran (1998) Factors affecting the behaviour of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci L.) on the Great Barrier Reef:: 1: Patterns of activity, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 220, Issue 1, 83-106 Link to Abstract/Full Text

G. De'ath, P.J. Moran (1998) Factors affecting the behaviour of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci L.) on the Great Barrier Reef:: 2: Feeding preferences, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 220, Issue 1, 107-126 Link to Abstract/Full Text

JAH. Benzie, K. P. Black, P. J. Moran, and P. Dixon (1994) Small-Scale Dispersion of Eggs and Sperm of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci) in a Shallow Coral Reef Habitat, Biol Bull, Volume 186, 153-167 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Jairo Rivera-Posada, Ciemon F. Caballes, Morgan S. Pratchett (2013) Lethal doses of oxbile, peptones and thiosulfate-citrate-bile-sucrose agar (TCBS) for Acanthaster planci; exploring alternative population control options, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 75, Issues 1–2, 133-139 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Jairo Rivera-Posada, Leigh Owens, Ciemon F. Caballes, Morgan S. Pratchett (2012) The role of protein extracts in the induction of disease in Acanthaster planci, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 429, 1-6 Link to Abstract/Full Text

John K. Keesing, Andrew R. Halford, Karina C. Hall, Carina M. Cartwright (1997) Large-scale laboratory culture of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (L.) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), Aquaculture, Volume 157, Issues 3–4, 215-226 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Jon Brodie, Katharina Fabricius, Glenn De’ath, Ken Okaji (2005) Are increased nutrient inputs responsible for more outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish? An appraisal of the evidence, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 51, 266-278 Link to Abstract/Full Text

JP Scandol, MK James (1992) Hydrodynamics and larval dispersal: a population model of Acanthaster planci on the Great Barrier Reef, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 43, Number 3, 583-595 Link to Abstract/Full Text

J. S. Lucas and M. M. Jones (1976) Hybrid crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci x A. brevispinus) reared to maturity in the laboratory, Nature, Volume 263, 409–412 Link to Abstract/Full Text

L. G. Johnson and C. M. Cartwright (1996) Thyroxine-Accelerated Larval Development in the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci, Biol Bull, Volume 190, 299-301 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Martin J. Lourey, Daniel A. J. Ryan, Ian R. Miller (2000) Rates of decline and recovery of coral cover on reefs impacted by, recovering from and unaffected by crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci: a regional perspective of the Great Barrier Reef, MEPS, Volume 196, 179-186 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Morgan S. Pratchett (2001) Influence of coral symbionts on feeding preferences of crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci in the western Pacific, MEPS, Volume 214, 111-119  Link to Abstract/Full Text

Peter D. Walbran, Robert A. Henderson, A. J. Timothy Jull, and M. John Head (1989) Evidence from Sediments of Long-Term Acanthaster planci Predation on Corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Science, 847-850 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Peter J. Vine (1970) Field and Laboratory Observations of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci: Densities of Acanthaster planci in the Pacific Ocean, Nature, Volume 228, 341–342 Link to Abstract/Full Text

PJ Moran & G De'ath (1992) Suitability of the manta tow technique for estimating relative and absolute abundances of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci L.) and corals, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research , Volume 43, Number 2, 357-379 Link to Abstract/Full Text

PJ Moran, G De'ath, VJ Baker, DK Bass, CA Christie, IR Miller, BA Miller-Smith, AA Thompson (1992) Pattern of outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci L.) along the Great Barrier Reef since 1966, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 43, Number 3, 555-567 Link to Abstract/Full Text

RC Babcock, CN Mundy (1992) Reproductive biology, spawning and field fertilization rates of Acanthatser planci, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Volume 43, Number 3, 525-533 Link to Abstract/Full Text

R. F. G. Ormond, A. C. Campbell, S. H. Head, R. J. Moore, P. R. Rainbow & A. P. Saunders (1973) Formation and Breakdown of Aggregations of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci (L.), Nature, Volume 246, 167–169 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Richard J. Moore and Carol J. Huxley (1976) Aversive behaviour of crown-of-thorns starfish to coral evoked by food-related chemicals, Nature, Volume 263, 407–409 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Richard Kenchington (1987) Acanthaster Planci and Management of the Great Barrier Reef, Bulletin of Marine Science, Volume 41, Number 2, 552-560 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Richard Randolph Olson (1987) In situ culturing as a test of the larval starvation hypothesis for the crown-of-thoms starfish, Acanthaster planci, Limnology and Oceanography, Volume 32, Issue 4, 895–904 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Steven Victor (2008) Stability of reef framework and post settlement mortality as the structuring factor for recovery of Malakal Bay Reef, Palau, Micronesia: 25 years after a severe COTS outbreak. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume 77, Issue 1, 175-180 Link to Abstract/Full Text

T. Ayukai (1996) Ingestion of Ultraplankton by the Planktonic Larvae of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci, Biol Bull, Volume 186, 90-100 Link to Abstract/Full Text

Toshiaki Teruya, Kiyotake Suenaga, Tomoyuki Koyama, Yoshikatsu Nakano, Daisuke Uemura (2001) Arachidonic acid and α-linolenic acid, feeding attractants for the crown-of-thorns sea star Acanthaster planci, from the sea urchin Toxopneustes pileolus, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 266, Issue 2, 123-134 Link to Abstract/Full Text

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