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Venom of Crown of Thorns Starfish

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Venom of Crown of Thorns Starfish
Adam Holena
Physiology
Venom Research Paper
5/2/2013

Crown of Thorns Starfish To many tourists the Great Barrier Reef is an exciting and relaxing destination to travel to. It holds beauty in its waters that are difficult to find anywhere else. Within the beauty however lies many varieties of marine organisms that all can inflict great harm to humans. One such organism is the Crown of thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci). When most people hear of the organism starfish, they think of this barely mobile, harmless creature that lives on the bottom of the ocean. This specific species of starfish, however; is quite different from those commonly referred to. The crown of thorns starfish lives predominantly in the Great Barrier Reef, but can also be found in along sea beds, and intertidal zones of tropical and subtropical latitudes. The shaping of the crown of thorns starfish is the same as most starfish, including the traits of having a center mass with protruding appendages used for movement. This starfish differs from the normal Asteroidea family of starfish in that it is not limited to the five arms, and is heavily armed with spines covering its dorsal surface. An adult of this species ranges from 25 to 35cm in size and is seen with up to 21 arms. The coloration of these animals is usually on the dull side of pale brown, but depending on their location, are often seen with a vivid color scheme.
Figure 1: A picture of a Acanthaster planci depicting an example with a vivid color scheme. (“Acathancaster planci”, 2011)

If the spines were removed from this organism, the surface of it would be very soft, as the majority of the shape this organism has comes from the water that is contained within it.
The crown of thorns starfish is known to thrive off of the coral reef that it lives amongst, where it digests the coral using its gastric juices to liquefy the coral to a state for consumption (“Crown-of-thorns Starfish”, 2013). Because of the manner that


References: "Acanthaster Planci." GoldenMap. N.p., 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 02 May 2013. Argiolas, A., and JJ Pisano. "Facilitation of Phospholipase A2 Activity by Mastoparans, a New Class of Mast Cell Degranulating Peptides from Wasp Venom." The Journal of Biological Chemistry 258.11 (1983): 13697-3702. PubMed. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6643447>. Ault, Larissa, Julie Macardle, and Caitlin Sussman. "Acanthaster Planci Crown of Thorns Starfish." ADW: Acanthaster Planci: INFORMATION. N.p., 2011. Web. 02 May 2013. Birkeland, Charles, and John S. Lucas. Acanthaster Planci: Major Management Problem of Coral Reefs. Boca Raton: CRC, 1990. GoogleBooks. "Crown-of-thorns Starfish." BBC News. BBC, 2013. Web. 01 May 2013. Kawakami, Michiro, Kazuo Makimoto, Hirofumi Yamamoto, and Hiroaki Takahashi. "The Effect of Batroxobin on Cochlear Blood Flow." Acta Oto-Laryngologica 112.2 (1992): 991-97. PubMed. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1481670>. Luch, Andreas. Molecular, Clinical, and Environmental Toxicology. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2009. Sato, Hironobu, Yuichiro Tsuruta, Yu-ichi Yamamoto, Yutaka Asato, Kiyohito Taira, Keisuke Hagiwara, Susumu Kayo, Setsuko Iwanaga, and Hiroshi Uezato. "Case of Skin Injuries Due to Stings by Crown-of-thorns Starfish (Acanthaster Planci)." The Journal of Dermatology 35.3 (2008): 162-67. MEDKINE. Web. 01 May 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=76a4df53-2e15-495e-ba00-6e25e6375954%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=mnh&AN=18346260>. Sato, Hironobu, Yuichiro Tsuruta, Yu-ichi Yamamoto, Yutaka Asato, Kiyohito Taira, Keisuke Hagiwara, Susumu Kayo, Setsuko Iwanaga, and Hiroshi Uezato. "Case of Skin Injuries Due to Stings by Crown-of-thorns Starfish (Acanthaster Planci)." The Journal of Dermatology 35.3 (2008): 162-67. Print. Shiomi, K., S. Midorikawa, M. Ishida, Y. Nagashima, and H. Nagai. "Plancitoxins, Lethal Factors from the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Acanthaster Planci, Are Deoxyribonucleases II." Toxicon 44.5 (2004): 499-506. PubMed. Web. 1 May 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15450924>.
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