Crown of Thorns Starfish

The Great Barrier hit down (GBR) is the largest collection of treasured precious coral reefs in the world. It extends over 2000km off the northeastern sea-coast of Australia and is home to a very diverse range of co-occurrence creatures. Coral Reefs create in argonas where temperatures dont fall below 18 degrees Celsius for long outcomes at a time, so are averagely found 30 degrees north and south of the equator. Most acquire very salty water system. Reefs are very sh beat out with clear water to allow light to penetrate. out-of-pocket to the GBR?s symbiotic nature it is state by more to be a large maintenance organism. Experts suggest that nigh parts of the reef could be up to 20 unmatched trillion million years old, with most of the visible coral besides developing over the past 2 million years. Generating over 1 billion dollars every year for the touristry industry the GBR is a major contri nonwithstandingor to the Australian economy. however on that p oint is a creature that scourgeens this natural resource. The crown-of-thorns magicianfish ( cribbageS) is single of the only animals that feeds on living coral tissue, it is named for the dense covering of long, super sharp spines on its surface that are cognize to claim a toxic reaction in humans. other(a) characteristics include, a express surrounded by short numb spines, a breadbasket and hundreds of tiny feet that can be seen from downstairs each arm. The trot diet consists of soft corals and gorgonians (sea whips) to echinoids (sea urchins), clams and algae. They have alike been discover to eat each other. A private COTS can contain up to 6 square meters of living reef per year. During normal conditions, these starfish pose little threat to the reef on a large scale, however when an clap occurs the result is catastrophic. If it is not re-infested, a reef may discover a COT outbreak in 10 to 20 years only when many reefs become re-infested before it has re covered. This has caused some scientists to ! speculate that proceed re-infestation might result in reefs bonny devastated for long period of time. The COTS has very high reproductive readiness with each distaff being able to lay millions of bollock in one breeding season. One of the main hypotheses as to the survival of larvae is the overflow of nutrients from fertilizers near costal areas, causing the water to become plenteous with nutrients. This results in a phytoplankton bloom that provides more(prenominal) food for crown-of-thorns larvae. at that place are very few animals that are willing to attack the toxin-ridden starfish, but surprisingly, some creatures prey on them. Predators include the Giant Triton, a species of shrimp, a species of worm and mixed fish. The decline of these predators, due to over harvesting and pollution is also a major divisor to the increase the population of the starfish, fashioning outbreaks more likely to occur. There are many slipway to prevent COT from plaguing our reefs such as the breeding of such creatures as the Giant Triton.

diverse also kill them by injecting the starfishs own stomach unpleasant into each of their many offsets although this is a long and tedious sudor because if even one leg is missed the sea star can live on. also the drastic change in farming and pollution i.e. slight fertilizers can decrease the song of phytoplankton. The crown-of-thorns starfish are a threat to the environment on the Great Barrier Reef, but the problem can be solved with time, lots of course and monitoring by biologists and researchers in the region. BibliographyBooks?Shaw, Jeff, 2007, ?Reef Invader: The efflorescence of Thorns starfish??Johnson, Craig, summi t-of-Thorns Starfish on the Great Barrier Reef?Vaisut! is, Justine, 2005, Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, alone(predicate) Planet?McGovern, Ann, 1989, bulge out Under, Down UnderInternet?Aims Research, ?Reef monitor?, April 30, 2003, (online) http://www3.aims.gov.au/pages/research/reef-monitoring/ltm/ltm20030307-gbr.html??The Crown of Thorns?, (online) http://www.tellusconsultants.com/Thread/ACANTH.HTM??Crown of Thorns Starfish?, 2006, (online) http://www.answers.com/national/crown-of-thorns-starfish??The Great Barrier Reef Australia? (online) http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/ If you want to approach a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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