Flesh-eating Starfish go for lunch

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	Flesh-eating Starfish go for lunch

mickfinn

1-17-2008 12:10 PM

514 views

tags:

coral reefs, starfish

mickfinn says:

"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 localised."

The scientists found there were still healthy populations of certain species around the reefs and believe there is still time to reverse the damage. (DT)

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/59639b7b-04a0-4248-b7cb-613dd7ecf052/B55C4306-FBBC-4943-B04C-FFB17AD59446/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml" style="font-size: 11px;">www.telegraph.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">One of the world's richest and most precious coral reef systems is under threat from a voracious predator</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.telegraph.co.uk/img/6501D09B-E342-4058-A86A-852C52AF822C" alt="The Crown of Throns starfish eats the coral polyp flesh leaving behind the calcium carbonate skeleton" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml"><CENTER>The Crown of Throns starfish eats the coral polyp flesh leaving behind the calcium carbonate skeleton</CENTER></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">The notorious Crown of thorns starfish has been found in large numbers by scientists in Halmahera, Indonesia, at the heart of the so-called 'Coral Triangle', which lies between Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">It is regarded as the jewel in the crown of coral reef biodiversity and is considered the genetic fountainhead for coral diversity found on Australia's Great Barrier Reef</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">The starfish eats the delicate coral polyps which form the thin film of flesh on the outside of the coral skeleton</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">After attaching itself it spreads its stomach over the coral and releases a flood of digestive juices. The polyp flesh is liquified and then absorbed by the starfish</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/17/eacoral117.xml">Scientists think the outbreak may have been caused by the poor quality of the water</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/B55C4306-FBBC-4943-B04C-FFB17AD59446/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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