Crown of Thorns

dkfloyd

dkfloyd

Member
I don't know if I'm sorry I opened up this can of worms. lol.
the problem is humans we have created a enviroment that is perfect for the crown of throns star to thrive and mutiply.
Exactly! Humans strike again!
It is because of us, that it is something we should be worried about. JMHO.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
According to the discovery channel special they aired about the crown of thorns, their over population was caused by us. Apparently their food of choice is a conch that is getting killed off by fishing boats dragging their nets. They get caught and killed and its been bad enough where it has depleted the starfishes natural diet where it is forced to look elsewhere to eat. The stony corals have always been a part of their menu. But when food was plentiful to them they wouldnt consume the entire coral, leaving some of it to regenerate. But now that they are starving they are consuming then entire coral leaving nothing behind, and to boot they are reproducing at an alarming rate. This is decimating coral reefs leaving barren waste lands of algae covered coral skeletons. Again this is what I remember hearing on the special.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
actually their main diet is staghorn corals. there is a conch the giant triton shell conch is a preditor of the crown of thorns star. so pretty close the star is actually considered a coralvore is one term I have heard and seen used for them.
Mike
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by MichaelTX
http:///forum/post/2624509
actually their main diet is staghorn corals. there is a conch the giant triton shell conch is a preditor of the crown of thorns star. so pretty close the star is actually considered a coralvore is one term I have heard and seen used for them.
Mike

Ahhhh yes that was it the conch was their predator... I got it mixed up. They are/were being killed by fishermen. That is what it was... my mistake.
 
niskyvaulter

niskyvaulter

Member
the reason that they are multiplying out of control is actually our fault. they would get caught in fishermen's nets. the fishermen would carfeully remove them, cut the up to "kill" them, and heres the kicker, throw them back in the ocean. so now theres lots of them. i dont usually agree with fooling with the environment, but this one (like most problems) was our fault, so i feel that it is our job to fix.
 
blackjacktang

blackjacktang

Active Member
I watched a show on these. It said there numbers where growing because ther are nutrients being put in the water by farmers. It is getting in the ocean by rain. And the nutrents are decreasing the risk of baby crown-of-thorns stars to dy before they make it in the adult hood. Before this, most of them before becoming adults just simply died
 
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