How does the Crown-of-thorn starfish move?

Answer 1

Here is my report you can use on crown-of-thorn starfish: A glance at the crown-of-thorns starfish explains how it got its name, as it is covered by thousands of spines. The spines are extremely sharp and are known to have a toxic reaction in humans. This animal is also the largest starfish in the world. People have sighted ones as big as 700mm in diameter from one tip to the other. The normal size for this starfish is between 250mm and 350mm. This starfish is quite beautiful when it is seen in its natural environment, as it is multi coloured ranging from purplish with red tip spines to having a green body with yellow tip spines. The crown-of-thorn starfish does not breathe but oxygen enters mainly by diffusion into the tube feet. The crown-of-thorns also has many other characteristics, which includes a mouth surrounded by short blunt spines, a stomach and hundreds of tiny feet that can be seen from under each arm. The crown of thorn's diet mainly consists of coral. Foods range from soft corals, including gorgonians (sea whips) to echinoids (sea urchins, starfish), clams and algae. They have also been observed to eat each other. The crown of thorns starfish is capable of going for relatively long periods of time without food. In the laboratory they have gone for as long as six to nine months. The crown of thorns starfish is a predator that eats other living animals. It is able to move across the coral reef using its suckers to find new prey. After finding a suitable coral it sucks away the polyp's tissue, leaving only a white coral skeleton. When the crown of thorns starfish is present in large numbers, it often eats together in groups called aggregations. In recent years crown of thorns aggregation have caused large scale coral destruction in other areas of the Pacific, but especially in the Great Barrier Reef. A female crown of thorn starfish releases millions of eggs each year but usually only a very small number survive to become mature starfish. However, if conditions are favourable, it may allow more larvae to settle on the coral reef and to survive. This then can lead to a population explosion on the reef. The outbreak of this starfish on the Great Barrier Reef has probably been the most extensive of all those recorded in the Indo-Pacific region. The last serious outbreak in the Great Barrier Reef occurred in 1991/1992. It was predicted to occur in 1994 but came 3 years early. These outbreak cause drastic destruction to the corals leaving some areas totally deserted. The crown of thorn starfish has no known predator so they thrive. Large aggregations of starfish will drastically alter the amount of hard coral on the reef. The starfish migrates from reef to reef as its food sauce runs out. Most hard corals will be eaten, though remnants are often left behind which can regenerate. Coral reefs can recover from the damage done by outbreaks, but it can take up to 20 years just to have a good coral cover again. That is why researchers are finding ways to prevent outbreaks in the first place.

Answer 2

I am one to name a few being only 3 or 4 .

The crown of thorns starfish is the seconds largest starfish in the world.

The crown off thorns starfish has up to 21 arms.

the crown of thorns starfish can be up to 1m long

the crown of thorns starfish is a introduced pest specie

the crown of thorns starfish can eat up to 6 square meters of coral per year

& lastly the crown of thorns starfish can move up to 20 km per hour.

hope i helped

Answer 3

http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/reflib/cot-starfish/pages/cot-q27.html

Answer 4

crown of thorn starfish can't swim but it can walk

Answer 5

It lives on coral reefs in tropical waters and it eats coral, I have seen it when diving in all the tropical ocean areas.

Answer 6

they eat coral

hope i helped