What is for dessert? Crown-of-thorns starfish feeds on non-scleractinian anthozoans at Taiping Island (Itu Aba), Spratlys, South China Sea

• Published in: Marine biodiversity Vol. 52; no. 1; p. 2
• Main Authors: Kuo, Chao-Yang, Ho, Ming-Jay, Heng, Wei Khang, Huang, Ya-Yi, Ko, Chia-Ying, Jiang, Guo-Chen, Jeng, Ming-Shiou, Chen, Chaolun Allen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blanketing; Coastguard services; Coral reefs; Corals; Emergency vessels; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Life Sciences; Marine invertebrates; Marine sciences; Mucus; Observational studies; Oceanarium; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Shipwrecks; Underwater photography; Taiping Island; Aba Nigeria; South China Sea; Nigeria; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1867-1616; 1867-1624
• DOI: 10.1007/s12526-021-01240-6

With less scleractinian corals available, several remaining CoTS individuals were observed smothering colonies of non-scleractinian anthozoans growing on a shipwreck sunken at the sandy bottom between 16 and 35 m in depth next to the reef (Fig. 1, supplementary video). RDB indicates recently dead coral branches; b CoTS and mucus-covered Litophyton nearby Acknowledgements We thank Tao-Jen Kuo for shooting the underwater photography, Dominic Bryant for English editing, and the National Academy of Marine Research, Ocean Conservation Administration and Coast Guard Administration of Ocean Affairs Council of Taiwan for their logistic support and access to Taiping Island (Itu Aba). Sampling and field studies All necessary permits for accessing the study site and conducting observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the “Acknowledgements” section.