Question 1

True or false: They can inject venom through their spines when touched, causing severe pain to humans.

Accepted Answer

True. Their spines are coated with a potent neurotoxin that can cause intense pain, swelling, and nausea if it penetrates the skin.

Question 2

True or false: They have up to 21 arms and can grow to over 60 centimeters in diameter.

Accepted Answer

True. Most have 12–19 arms, but some specimens reach 21 arms and a diameter of 70 cm, making them one of the largest starfish.

Question 3

True or false: Crown-of-thorns starfish are slow-moving and rarely travel more than a few meters in their lifetime.

Accepted Answer

False. They can move up to 20 meters per hour when foraging, and outbreaks can spread across entire reef systems over months.

Question 4

True or false: Crown-of-thorns starfish can regenerate an entire body from a single severed arm.

Accepted Answer

True. Like many starfish, they have remarkable regenerative abilities, but a single arm can regrow a full body only if part of the central disc remains.

Question 5

True or false: Their venomous spines are primarily used to hunt fish for food.

Accepted Answer

False. They are corallivores, feeding on coral polyps, not fish. The spines are for defense against predators like the giant triton snail.

Question 6

True or false: Crown-of-thorns starfish are immune to all predators due to their venom and spines.

Accepted Answer

False. The giant triton snail, some pufferfish, and harlequin shrimp prey on them, often by flipping them over to access soft tissue.

Question 7

True or false: Each female crown-of-thorns starfish can release over 100 million eggs in a single spawning event.

Accepted Answer

True. Females are highly fecund, often releasing 60–100 million eggs, which contributes to their rapid population explosions.

Question 8

True or false: Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish are a natural phenomenon that has occurred for millions of years.

Accepted Answer

True. Fossil evidence shows periodic outbreaks long before human influence, though nutrient runoff from farming now exacerbates them.

Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Trivia Questions