Asterias forbesi Asterias forbesi Asterias forbesi, commonly known as Forbes sea star, is a species of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is found in shallow waters in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. "Asterias forbesi" usually has 5 arms but occasionally has 4 or 6. Like many starfish species, the upper surface is covered in blunt conical projections giving it a rough feel. Some of these are pedicellariae, minute pincers that can grip objects. The arms are plump, broad at the base and tapering to a blunt tip. This starfish grows to about in diameter with an arm length
Crown-of-thorns starfish a week or more. The spines, which are brittle, may also break off and become embedded in the tissue where they must be removed surgically. Saponins seem to occur throughout the lifecycle of the crown-of-thorns starfish. The saponins in the eggs are similar to those in the adult tissues, and presumably these carry over to the larvae. The mouthing behaviour of predators of juvenile starfish with rejection suggests the juveniles contain saponins. The adult crown-of-thorns is a corallivorous predator that usually preys on reef coral polyps. It climbs onto a section of living coral colony using the large number of