How does the crown-of-thorns starfish reproduce?
The crown-of-thorns starfish reproduces sexually. Females shed eggs into the water which are fertilised by sperm released from nearby males (see Fig. 12). Starfish need to be examined internally to determine their sex. As yet there are no data to indicate the relationship between rates of fertilisation and the density of spawning starfish. The rate of fertilisation of eggs would be expected to increase with greater numbers of spawning starfish and/ora decrease in the distance between them.
