Messmer, V., Pratchett, M.S., and Clark, T.D. (2013) Capacity for regeneration in crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci. Coral Reefs, 32 (2). p. 461.

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Abstract

[Extract] Population outbreaks of the coral-feeding crown of thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci (Fig. 1a), are, with storms, the most significant disturbance on coral reefs in the western Pacific (e.g., De'ath et al. 2012). Controlling outbreaks of A. planci is therefore increasingly viewed as a key strategy in reducing coral loss and reef degradation. Initial control efforts in the 1960s involved sectioning starfish and leaving them in situ, but there were subsequent anecdotal reports that A. planci could regenerate from small pieces of remnant tissue. Regeneration is a common characteristic amongst echinoderms as a form of asexual reproduction, or following loss of appendages through predation, stress or disease. Regeneration has been recorded in at least 21 species within the Asteroidea (Emson and Wilkie 1980).

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