Kary Mar
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Acanthaster brevispinus Fisher, 1917
Acanthaster brevispinus, known as the short-spined crown-of-thorns starfish, is one of the two members of the starfish genus Acanthaster, along with the much better-known Acanthaster planci, the common crown-of-thorns starfish.
This species have dense blunt spines over the surface of its disc, short pedicellaria on its aboral surface. The purple-brown aboral surface becoming more intense along the arms. The spines along it arms are not as long as in Acanthaster planci.
Scientists have long believed that this species lives on deep sandy bottoms and feeds on mussels (which they actually consume with appetite in aquariums). However, a Japanese study showed that his favorite food in nature tends to be soft corals, particularly those of the nephtheid family (which actually allows him to have a greater depth range as these corals are not photosynthetic).
This starfish appears to ignore reef corals as long as it finds its favorite food, but it has also been observed at high densities in La Réunion, feeding on table corals such as Acanthaster planci.
Direct children (2):
Subspecies Acanthaster brevispinus brevispinus Fisher, 1917
Subspecies Acanthaster brevispinus seychellensis Jangoux & Aziz, 1984
Acanthaster brevispinus, known as the short-spined crown-of-thorns starfish, is one of the two members of the starfish genus Acanthaster, along with the much better-known Acanthaster planci, the common crown-of-thorns starfish.
This species have dense blunt spines over the surface of its disc, short pedicellaria on its aboral surface. The purple-brown aboral surface becoming more intense along the arms. The spines along it arms are not as long as in Acanthaster planci.
Scientists have long believed that this species lives on deep sandy bottoms and feeds on mussels (which they actually consume with appetite in aquariums). However, a Japanese study showed that his favorite food in nature tends to be soft corals, particularly those of the nephtheid family (which actually allows him to have a greater depth range as these corals are not photosynthetic).
This starfish appears to ignore reef corals as long as it finds its favorite food, but it has also been observed at high densities in La Réunion, feeding on table corals such as Acanthaster planci.
Direct children (2):
Subspecies Acanthaster brevispinus brevispinus Fisher, 1917
Subspecies Acanthaster brevispinus seychellensis Jangoux & Aziz, 1984
