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Crown of thorns starfish (COTS, Acanthaster sp.) are notorious for their destructive consumption of coral that decimates tropical reefs, an attribute unique among tropical marine invertebrates. Their populations can rapidly increase from 0-1 COTS ha-1 to more than 10-1000 COTS ha-1 in short order causing a drastic change to benthic communities and reducing the functional and species diversity of coral reef ecosystems. Population outbreaks were first identified to be a significant threat to coral reefs in the 1960s. Since then, they have become one of the leading causes of coral loss along with coral bleaching. Decades of research and significant investment in Australia and elsewhere, particularly Japan, have been directed towards identifying, understanding, and managing the potential causes of outbreaks and designing population control methods. Despite this, the drivers of outbreaks remain elusive. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the success of COTS is tied to their inherent biological traits, especially in early life. Survival of larval and juvenile COTS is likely to be enhanced by their dietary flexibility and resilience to variable food conditions as well as their phenotypically plastic growth dynamics, all magnified by the extreme reproductive potential of COTS. These traits enable COTS to capitalise on anthropogenic disturbances to reef systems as well as endure less favourable conditions.
Figure 1. The life cycle of a crown of thorns starfish.(A) an unfertilised egg, (B) the eight-cell stage, (C) a blastula, (D) a gastrula with the archenteron, (E) a feeding bipinnaria with fully developed digestive tract (photo Dr Jonathan Allen) (F), a brachiolaria with anterior arms used for benthic settlement (photo Dr. Paulina Selvakumaraswamy) (G) a newly settled juvenile, (H) the older herbivorous stage juvenile and, finally, (I) the corallivorous stage.
Figure 2. Cloning crown of thorns starfish larvae.Partially regenerated head (A) and body (C) clone and the regenerated larvae (B and D) after four days. Scale barâ=â200â µm.
Figure 3. Herbivorous crown of thorns starfish aged â¼1 year (left) and 6.5 years (right).Scale barâ=â10â mm.
Figure 4. Processes and traits that are likely to have a positive (+) or negative (â) effect on the success of crown of thorns starfish.Symbols sourced from Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (https://ian.umces.edu/media-library/).
Figure 5. Crown of thorns starfish culling by lethal injection, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.Photo: Matthew Curnock.
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