Are crown-of-thorns starfish found only on the Great Barrier Reef?
No. This starfish is known to occur throughout the Indo-Pacific region (see Fig. 3), from the Red Sea, and the shores of East Africa through Micronesia, the South Pacific and to Panama and the Gulf of California. It has been found as far north as mainland Japan and as far south as Lord Howe Island and the Solitary Islands (off Coffs Harbour on the central coast of New South Wales). However, it is not found on coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. A list of the places where crown-of-thorns starfish have been found is given in Table I Figure 3 Map showing the distribution of crown-of-thorns starfish in the Indo-Pacific region (the numbers refer to locations given in Table 1). Click here to view a larger map (62k) AIMS home page web@aims.gov.au Last updated – 12 December 97 Copyright 1997 Australian Institute of Marine Science URL http://www.aims.gov.
