Starfish to blame for coral reef erosion

Huge numbers of the infamous crown of thorns starfish are now threatening the, so called, “coral triangle” which is the planets, richest centre of coral reef biodiversity.

That’s the shocking new findings of scientific surveys by the Wildlife Conservation Society, based at the Bronx Zoo, New York, and, ARC Centre of Excellence, for Coral Reef Studies
The starfish, a ravenous predator that feeds on the live corals by spreading its body over them, then it uses strong digestive enzymes, to liquefy the coral.

The starfish were found in large numbers by researchers on reefs of, Halmahera, Indonesia, the so called, heart of the Coral Triangle, which is encompassed by Papua New Guinea, Palau, the Solomon Islands. Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The Coral Triangle is considered to be the genetic source, for many corals found on Ningaloo Reef, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and other reefs in the region.

The surveys appear to confirm that, while Halmahera’s reefs are still thirty to fifty percent higher in coral concentrations than other nearby reefs, some areas are nearly completely destroyed.

Tasrif Katawijaya from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s’ Marine Program in Indonesia said: “The heart of the Coral Triangle is broken,”

Dr. Andrew Baird of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. Said; “The main cause of damage to the corals was the Crown of Thorns Starfish,” and, “We witnessed a number of active outbreaks of this coral predator. There was little to suggest that the reefs have been much affected by climate change as yet: the threats appear far more localized.”

The team also introduced evidence of recent blast-fishing. At the same time many reef lagoons have been mined of their corals for use in construction.

Dr Stuart Campbell, Program Leader for the WCS-IP stated: “This is clearly a complex human environment, and effective management of the marine resources must seek to understand and address the causes of conflict among communities

The researchers pointed out that there still time to reverse the damage, and that there were still healthy populations of certain species.

Tasrif Katawijaya added: “The good news is that the reef fish assemblages are still in very good shape”. and “We saw napoleon wrasse and bump head parrot fish at almost every site. So these reefs have the capacity to recover if we can address the current threats.”