Microtubule-regulating kinesins

How do they reproduce? Unlike many other starfish, the general body surface of crown-of-thorns starfish is soft and flexible, which enables it to swell as it develops huge gonads. Fecundity is obviously related to size, but, as an example, a 40 cm diameter crown-of-thorns starfish may commit about 45% of its total body energy to reproduction and shed an astonishing 50 million eggs. Like many marine invertebrates, crown-of-thorns starfish shed their gametes freely into the ocean and the gametes are wasted if there is no synchrony or proximity in spawning. Crown-of-thorns starfish don’t use precise cues for spawning: they may spawn at any stage of the lunar cycle and even join with other reef invertebrates in multi-species spawnings. They do, however, tend to spawn when the water temperature is about 28°C and often aggregate, apparently due to a spawning pheromone. Proximate spawnings of male and female crown-of-thorns starfish achieve almost 100% fertilisation. Even two crown-of-thorns starfish spawning 60 meters apart can achieve 23% fertilisation, resulting from the vast numbers of sperm released.