Selective feeding by larvae of the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci (L.)

 The effect of phytoplankton size on feeding rates of planktonic larvae of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (L.) was evaluated by examining their gut contents under an epifluorescence microscope. Concentrations of coccoid cyanobacteria in natural seawater ranged between 1.73 and 5.33×10⁵ cells ml^-1 and were three to four orders of magnitude greater than that of eukaryotes. Under these conditions, A. planci larvae ingested similar or smaller numbers of cyanobacteria than eukaryotes. Consequently, clearance rates of A. planci larvae on cyanobacteria were approximately three orders of magnitude lower than those on eukaryotes. Cyanobacteria and eukaryotes in the gut of A. planci larvae had mean equivalent spherical diameters (ESD) of 1–2 μm and 3.6–4.6 μm, respectively. Thus, the volume of cyanobacteria ingested was less than 10% of the volume of eukaryotes ingested. Acanthaster planci larvae were fed cultured phytoplankton Dunaliella tertiolecta and suspensions of three different sizes of plastic beads with fluorescence labelling. There was no significant difference in clearance rates on 6 and 20 μm plastic beads. Clearance rates on 1 μm plastic beads were, however, much lower than those on 6 and 20 μm plastic beads. Clearance rates of A. planci larvae on D. tertiolecta (ca. 5 μm ESD) were significantly higher than those on 6 and 20 μm plastic beads. Apart from particle size, this result shows that feeding of A. planci larvae is influenced by other properties of potential food particles. Accepted: 24 May 1996     

A field study of fish predation on juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish

To test whether commercially exploited fishes could regulate populations of crown-of-thorns starfish, laboratory reared juvenile Acanthaster planci were planced on small habitat units in an area of a lagoon where a number of species of fish that feed on benthic invertebrates occurred. Predators were excluded from half the units using wire mesh. In 35 days, losses were low and there was no statistically significant difference between caged and uncaged units. A difference in mortality rate of 1% of individuals per day would have been detected with >85% probability.However, the observed mean difference, the maximum estimate of predatory mortality, was 0.13% of starfish per day. It thus seems unlikely that predation by any large fishes was important in the population dynamics of juvenile A. planci at that site at the time of this experiment. Juvenile starfish were presented to lethrinids in the field at two reefs. Thirteen percent of juvenile A. planci presented at one reef were eaten, but in no presentation did lethrinids eat all the available starfish and those that were eaten were often mouthed and rejected by several fish before being swallowed. No juveniles were taken in a smaller number of trials at the second reef. These results do not favour the hypothesis that predation on juveniles by large fish is important in the population dynamics of A. planci but experiments at more sites will be required before this conclusion can be generalized.     

Homing behaviour by destructive crown-of-thorns starfish is triggered by local availability of coral prey

Corallivorous crown-of-thorns starfishes (Acanthaster spp.) can decimate coral assemblages on Indo-Pacific coral reefs during population outbreaks. While initial drivers of population irruptions leading to outbreaks remain largely unknown, subsequent dispersal of outbreaks appears coincident with depletion of coral prey. Here, we used in situ time-lapse photography to characterize movement of the Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) in the northern and southern Great Barrier Reef in 2015, during the fourth recorded population outbreak of the starfish, but prior to widespread coral bleaching. Daily tracking of 58 individuals over a total of 1117 h revealed all starfish to move a minimum of 0.52 m, with around half of all tracked starfish showing negligible daily displacement (less than 1 m day⁻¹), ranging up to a maximum of 19 m day⁻¹. Movement was primarily nocturnal and daily displacement varied spatially with variation in local availability of Acropora spp., which is the preferred coral prey. Two distinct behavioural modes emerged: (i) homing movement, whereby tracked paths (as tested against a random-walk-model) involved short displacement distances following distinct ‘outward'' movement to Acropora prey (typically displaying ‘feeding scars'') and ‘homebound'' movement to nearby shelter; versus (ii) roaming movement, whereby individuals showed directional movement beyond initial tracking positions without return. Logistic modelling revealed more than half of all tracked starfish demonstrated homing when local abundance (percentage cover) of preferred Acropora coral prey was greater than 33%. Our results reveal facultative homing by Acanthaster with the prey-dependent behavioural switch to roaming forays providing a mechanism explaining localized aggregations and diffusion of these population irruptions as prey is locally depleted.     

A gonad-stimulating peptide of the crown-of-thorns starfish,Acanthaster planci

The crown-of thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, has been blamed for coral mortality in a large number of coral reef systems in the Indo-Pacific region. Because population outbreaks of A. planci are closely related to reproduction, it is important to examine the mechanism of reproductive control in this starfish. Previously, a relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) in starfish Asterina pectinifera has been identified as the gonadotropin responsible for final gamete maturation. On the basis of homology research on RGP cDNAs from several species, this study was carried out to identify gonadotropin in A. planci. The cDNA sequence of RGP was determined using a RACE product of mRNA from the radial nerves of A. planci. The coding DNA sequence consisted of 351 base pairs with an open reading frame encoding a peptide of 116 amino acids (aa), including a signal peptide (29 aa), B-chain (19 aa), C-peptide (44 aa), and A-chain (24 aa). The chemical structure of A. planci RGP was exactly the same as that of A. pectinifera RGP. Furthermore, synthetic RGP could induce gamete spawning and oocyte maturation in the ovarian fragments of A. planci. This strongly suggested that the RGP is a gonadotropin in A. planci.     

Taphonomy of crown-of-thorns starfish: implications for recognizing ancient population outbreaks

A field experiment was conducted to determine whether in situ mass mortality of Acanthaster planci subsequent to a simulated outbreak would leave a recognizable signature in surficial reef sediments. Constituent particle analyses comparing sediments that received starfish carcasses to those that did not revealed that, after a four year interval, the mass mortality was reflected by elevated abundances of starfish ossicles in 1–2 mm and 2–4 mm size classes, but not in >4 mm and 0.5–1 mm size classes. Additional field study of starfish taphonomy revealed that the abundance of starfish ossicles in surficial sediments decreases through two orders of magnitude between two weeks and four years post-mortem, while tumbling experiments suggest that the size distribution of starfish ossicles is modified by physical processes: the <0.5 mm size classes increases at the expense of the >4 mm class. Taphonomic biasing increased the abundance of crown-of-thorms starfish (COTS) skeletal elements in the 0.5–1 mm size fraction, while the 1–2 mm size and 2–4 mm fractions produced the most reliable signature of starfish mass mortality based on element abundance. Our results demonstrate the importance of taphonomic processes in altering the original size frequency distribution of the COTS skeleton and their potential for biasing predictions of past population levels derived from constituent particle analyses of surficial reef sediments.     

Differential consumption of scleractinian and non-scleractinian coral larvae by planktivorous damselfishes

Coral Reefs - Planktivorous fishes are known to consume coral larvae due to their high nutritional value that can benefit both the individual and their progeny. However, how the consumption of...     

棘冠海星暴发及其对珊瑚礁的生态影响研究进展

棘冠海星的反复暴发是导致印度—太平洋区域珊瑚礁生态系统退化的最主要原因之一。然而,我国对棘冠海星的研究非常有限。本文综述了国内外关于棘冠海星及其暴发的生态影响和应对策略的研究进展,得出以下主要结论：1)雌性棘冠海星个体每年产卵数量高达50万—2亿个,环境因素变化只要导致幼虫和幼体存活率的轻微提高,成体就将得到大量补充;2)棘冠海星暴发的阈值为1000—1500个/km²,暴发周期为10—27 a,每次暴发持续1—10 a,最终可能以“种群集体感染疾病而崩溃”结束;3)棘冠海星暴发对印度洋及太平洋东部和北部珊瑚礁的破坏性非常小,却直接导致太平洋的西部和南部珊瑚礁90%以上的珊瑚死亡,并通过改变珊瑚群落组成、减少珊瑚和鱼类多样性而对珊瑚礁产生间接影响;4)关于棘冠海星暴发原因的假说中“陆地营养物质输入假说”和“捕食者过度捕捞假说”得到了最普遍的认可,但都不能解释所有的暴发事件;5)应对棘冠海星暴发的主要策略有改善水质、设立保护区、投放天敌和人工清理等,其中人工清理是最直接有效的策略,但迄今并没有发现可长期抑制棘冠海星暴发的方法。因此,急需加强对棘冠海星的深入研究,探查...     

Waves of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks —where do they come from?

To explain the southward propagating waves of crown-of-thorns outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef, it has been proposed that the northern region acts as a seed area for these waves. In this paper we study whether the highly variable current pattern of this region facilitates the start of local outbreaks, making the northern region the seed area or pace-maker of travelling waves of outbreaks. To this end we construct an artificial reef system, which resembles the Great Barrier Reef by having a northern area with a random current pattern, and a central and southern region with a (southward) biased current pattern. Travelling waves running from north to south are observed in the system both with and without a deviant current pattern in the northern area. This demonstrates that travelling waves are an emergent property of the system. The result indicates that the observed waves of crown-of-thorns outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef do not necessarily imply that there is a seed area in the north.     

Phylogeography of the crown-of-thorns starfish: genetic structure within the Pacific species

Previous studies of the population genetic structure of the corallivorous crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) Acanthaster planci in the Pacific Ocean showed high levels of gene flow that were assumed to reflect a high dispersal potential. However, the phylogeographic analyses of the Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish species of this study, using the highly variable mitochondrial control region and the most complete geographic coverage to date, contradict this view. Results show high levels of overall genetic structure (Φ_ST = 0.198), suggesting a complex history of range restrictions and expansions, a pattern that we hypothesize results from changes in topography and oceanography associated with sea-level changes. However, results also show signatures of ongoing gene flow between populations isolated in the past and high levels of genetic connectivity even among distant populations. Combined, these results indicate that while there are significant limits to genetic exchange among populations among Pacific Ocean populations of the crown-of-thorns starfish, the high larval dispersal potential of this species is often achieved as well.     

Predation by wasps on lepidopteran larvae in an Ozark forest canopy

ABSTRACT.

• 1 Predation by birds, crawling arthropods (ants, harvestmen, spiders), and social wasps (Vespula) spp. on introduced stocks of Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) larvae was investigated in a oak-hickory forest canopy in northwestern Arkansas (U.S.A.).
• 2 Wasps, Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) and V.squamosa (Drury), removed over 90% of the larvae. Repeated visits to a feeding site by the same marked wasps accounted for removal of either a single larva or all larvae. Larvae pinned (punctured) to artificial leaves were selected over 70% of the time by wasps when compared to attachments that did not puncture larvae; however, unpunctured larvae were taken.
• 3 Crawling arthropods accounted for low levels of predation, and birds did not appear to prey on larvae. Apparently wasps removed larvae rapidly and efficiently, thereby depleting the feeding sites before other predators discovered the larvae.
• 4 Although attaching larvae to artifical hickory leaves provided an easy method for placing larvae into the forest canopy, a lower percentage of larvae were removed from these leaves compared to natural hickory leaves. Moving feeding sites did not influence the number of larvae taken.

     

Preliminary observations of the decomposition of crown-of-thorns starfish,Acanthaster planci (L.)

The rate of decomposition of 67 crown-of-thorns starfish was monitored over 7–9 days on 2 reefs of the Great Barrier Reef in 7 permanent quadrats in different depths and habitats. The pattern of decomposition was similar in all quadrats irrespective of the site or depth. Many different organisms, including crown-of-thorns starfish, fed on or scavenged the remains. Despite this activity the remains could be recognised as crown-of-thorns starfish for up to 5 days. The reason for the sudden disappearance of starfish at the ends of outbreaks is briefly discussed.     

异色飘虫幼虫对桃大尾蚜的捕食作用

试验研究了异色飘虫二－四龄幼虫对桃大尾蚜低龄和高龄若蚜的捕食作用,对低龄若蚜的捕食作用,三龄幼虫的捕食量在猎物密度为40头以上时显著高于二龄幼虫,四龄幼虫的捕食量在猎物密度为70头以上时显著高于三龄幼虫。对高龄若蚜的捕食作用,三龄幼虫的捕食量在猎物密度为20头以上时显著或极显著高于二龄幼虫,四龄幼虫的捕食量在猎物密度为30头以上时显著高于三龄幼虫。异色飘虫二－四龄幼虫对桃大尾蚜低龄和高龄若蚜的捕食功能反应均为HollingⅡ型。用a/Th来评价天敌对害虫的控制能力,异色飘虫蚴虫龄期愈大,对桃大尾蚜控制作用愈强。     

Molecular cloning of two toxic phospholipases A2 from the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci venom

The full-length cDNAs encoding two toxic phospholipases A2 (AP-PLA2-I and -II) from the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci venom were individually cloned by RT-PCR, 3'RACE and 5'RACE. In common with both AP-PLA2s, the precursor protein is composed of a signal peptide, a propeptide and a mature protein (136 and 135 residues for AP-PLA2-I and -II, respectively). The four motifs (Ca2+-binding loop, Ca2+-binding site, active site and catalytic network) characteristic of groups I and II PLA2s are well conserved in both AP-PLA2s. In addition to this, the presence of the elapid and pancreatic loops and the involvement of a propeptide in the precursors suggested that AP-PLA2s are highly analogous to the group IB PLA2s. However, when compared to the amino acid sequence of bovine pancreatic PLA2, the representative group IB PLA2, AP-PLA2s require some amino acid insertions and deletions in the region 76-100, as previously observed for the starfish Asterina pectinifera PLA2s. Furthermore, the phylogenetic tree made clearly demonstrated that AP-PLA2s and A. pectinifera PLA2s are distinguishable from the group IB PLA2s as well as other PLA2s, being classified into a new group.