Nine new cytotoxic steroidal glycosides 1-9 have been isolated from the starfish Fromia monilis collected off New Caledonia. Structures of these compounds, which include four mono-(1-4), two di-(5,6), and three glycosides (7-9), were elucidated through spectral interpretation. Monilosides G [7], H [8], and I [9] are the first tri-glycosides to be found among the group of glycosides of polyhydro...

In the face of ever-increasing threats to coral reef ecosystems, it is essential to understand the impact of natural predators in order to devise appropriate management strategies. Destructive population explosions of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci have devastated coral reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific for decades. But despite extensive research, the causes of outbreaks are st...

Organism-level effects of ocean acidification (OA) are well recognized. Less understood are OA's consequences for ecological species interactions. Here, we examine a behaviourally mediated predator-prey interaction within the rocky intertidal zone of the temperate eastern Pacific Ocean, using it as a model system to explore OA's capacity to impair invertebrate anti-predator behaviours more broa...

A new species of asteriid sea star of the genus Leptasterias (Order Forcipulatida) is described from the nearshore waters of the Aleutian Islands. Leptaterias tatei sp. nov. is distinguished from Leptasterias stolacantha Fisher, 1930, by the characteristics of the spines and pedicellariae. Geographic distribution is discussed and a key to the five-rayed Leptasterias of the Aleutian Islands is p...

Three species of the sea stars are reported from the waters of the northwestern Pacific. These species were referred by earlier authors as Henricia spiculifera or H. leviuscula spiculifera. Two of them, H. lineata and H. uluudax, were recently described from the Aleutian Islands. These species are reported for the first time from the western Pacific (southeastern Kamchatka shore, Commander Isla...

1. The K and Cl~ levels and osmotic concentration of the tube feet fluid in intact starfish (Asterias forbesi) are higher than that in the external sea water or perivisceral (coelomic) fluid. 2. The increase in K+ in the fluid in the tube feet lumen is brought about by the active secretion of K+ by the tube feet epithelium. 3. No exchange of material from the external environment with the more ...

The sea star Asterias rubens reacts specifically to the antigen:HRP (horse-radish peroxydase) and produces an antibody anti-HRP. We previously identified a candidate Ig kappa gene corresponding to this manuscript. We show now the gene referred to as: "sea star Ig kappa gene in its specificity".