How to Draw a Crown Of Thorns Starfish

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Crown Of Thorns Starfish in 3 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.

The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.

Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.

At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Crown Of Thorns Starfish.

Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.

How to Draw a Crown Of Thorns Starfish - Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: First, draw a circle for the body of the Crown of Thorns Starfish.

Step 3: Draw small dashes all over the arms and body to show the thorn-like spines of the starfish. You can color your drawing after you finish it.

Interesting Facts about the Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci):

The Crown of Thorns starfish starts life like any other five-armed starfish. What makes it amazing is that it eventually grows more and more arms, and can have up to twenty-one of them! The Crown of Thorns starfish gets its name from the numerous spikes that poke up all over its arms and body, looking much like thorns.

Did you know?

• The Crown of Thorns Starfish has chemicals on its skin that are toxic to humans.
• If a human touches this starfish without protection, the result will be a painful sting, as well as possible nausea and vomiting.
• The Crown of Thorns Starfish eats coral by pushing its stomach outside of its body and over the coral.
• Once the starfish’s stomach has been turned inside out, the chemicals from its stomach dissolve the coral and allow it to be digested.
• The Crown of Thorns Starfish has not yet been evaluated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, but it is not believed to be under threat of extinction at this time.

The Crown of Thorns Starfish lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, wherever coral reefs are found. They range in size from twenty-five to thirty-five centimeters long. They are usually a grey-green or brown color, but some Crown of Thorns Starfish can have very bright colors like purple, fuchsia, pink and blue.