Crown-of-thorns starfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the crown-of-thorns starfish lives – recorded in 28 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Acanthaster planci
Group	Starfish, sea urchins & relatives
Found in	28 countries
Continents	Africa, Antarctica, Asia, North America, Oceania
Diet (main food)	Anthozoa
Class	Echinoderm
Order	Valvatida
Family	Acanthasteridae

Where does the crown-of-thorns starfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the crown-of-thorns starfish in 28 countries and territories across Africa, Antarctica, Asia, North America and Oceania. In Egypt, Fiji, Palau it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What does a crown-of-thorns starfish eat?

Wikidata lists the main food source of the crown-of-thorns starfish as: Anthozoa.

What kind of animal is the crown-of-thorns starfish?

The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is an echinoderm in the order Valvatida and the family Acanthasteridae, genus Acanthaster. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the crown-of-thorns starfish

The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a large starfish that preys upon hard coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns starfish, frequently abbreviated to COTS, receives its name from venomous, thornlike spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest starfish in the world.

A. planci has a very wide Indo-Pacific distribution, perhaps most common around Australia, but can occur at tropical and subtropical latitudes from the Red Sea and the East African coast across the Indian Ocean, and across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of Central America. It occurs where coral reefs or hard coral communities occur in the region. Echinobase is the model organism database for A. planci and a number of other echinoderms.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Crown-of-thorns starfish (revision 1380104250), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q26634 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).