Page 53 - World of Animals - Issue #30
P. 53
BRIGHTEST
STARFISH
More accurately known as sea stars, these
echinoderms are not actually related to their
fishy neighbours, but they add a splash of
colour to oceans all over the world
Words Zara Gaspar
Enemy of Australia’s
Great Barrier Reef
The crown-of-thorns starfish,
Acanthaster planci, is a corallivore,
which means it eats live coral. It lives
in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from
Japan to the Gulf of California, and is
common on the Great Barrier Reef. It
is notorious for the negative impact
it is having on the reef – an adult can
eat up to 478 square centimetres (74
square inches) of coral a day.
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