How does the crown-of-thorns starfish see?
The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a animal in the order Valvatida. Its eyes belong to the vision type .
Measured in this species: motion (flicker fusion). One measured dial: a value other than colour or sharpness is measured in this species; colour and sharpness are not measured here. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- Its sharpest vision resolves 0.02 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 0.7 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[4][5]
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 0.02 cycles per degree group default: median of tier-A values in vision type phylum Echinodermata within phylum Echinodermata (14 species: Asthenosoma varium, Centrostephanus coronatus, Diadema africanum, Diadema setosum, Echinometra… | Group default | [1][2] |
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Night vision | Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) | Group default | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 0.7 Hz median of 1 rows (no bright-light flag) (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [0.65]) | Measured | [3] |
Related animals
- Horseshoe crab same vision type
- Tuatara same vision type
- Australian lungfish same vision type
- Brine shrimp same vision type
- Coelacanth same vision type
- Commander same vision type
More other: all other with measured vision data.
Sources
- Notar JC et al. 2022. Integr Comp Biol 62:509-520. doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac119
- Sumner-Rooney L, Kirwan JD, Lowe E, Ullrich-Lueter E. 2021. Run and hide: visual performance in a brittle star. J Exp Biol 224:jeb236653
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?