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The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), [1] Acanthaster planci, is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thornlike spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns .
Acanthaster is a bitypic genus of large and venomous starfish placed in 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 body form of A. brevispinus is fundamentally the same as that of a typical starfish or seastar. Like A. planci, however, its distinctive traits include being disc-shaped, multiple-armed with multiple madreporites, flexible, prehensile, and densely spined, and having a large ratio of stomach surface to body mass.
COTSBot is capable of killing 200 crown-of-thorns starfish with its two liters capacity of poison. COTSBot is capable of performing about 20 runs per day, but multiple COTSBots will be necessary to significantly impact the crown of thorns starfish populations. [1] A smaller version of COTSBot called "RangerBot" is also being developed by QUT. [5]
Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), which feed on large swaths of western Pacific coral reefs, are notable unidirectional regenerators. [9] Starfish of this invasive species are extremely difficult to eradicate because of their ability to regrow when half or more of the original starfish is intact. [ 9 ]
Starfish sometimes have negative effects on ecosystems. Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish have caused damage to coral reefs in Northeast Australia and French Polynesia. [59] [70] A study in Polynesia found that coral cover declined drastically with the arrival of migratory starfish in 2006, dropping from 50% to under 5% in three years.
C. tritonis is one of the few animals to feed on the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci. Occasional plagues of this large and destructive starfish have killed extensive areas of coral on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the western Pacific reefs. The triton has been described as tearing the starfish to pieces with its file-like ...
Geological evidence suggests that the crown-of-thorns starfish has been part of the Great Barrier Reef's ecology for "at least several thousand years", but there is no geological evidence for crown-of-thorns outbreaks. [80] The first known outbreak occurred during the 1960s. [81] Large outbreaks of these starfish can devastate reefs.