Destruction of Pacific Corals by the Sea Star Acanthaster planci

18 July 1969

journal article
Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science

Vol. 165 (3890) , 280-283
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.165.3890.280

Abstract

Acanthaster planci, a coral predator, is undergoing a population explosion in many areas of the Pacific Ocean. Data on feeding rates, population movements, and stages of infestation were collected along coral reefs of Guam and Palau. Direct observations on destruction of Guam's coral reefs indicate that narrow, fringing reefs may be killed as rapidly as 1 kilometer per month. In a 2½-year period, 90 percent of the coral was killed along 38 kilometers of Guam's shoreline.

Keywords

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:

A New Fish Tag and Rapid, Cartridge-Fed Applicator
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1968
SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY: MARINE LEVEL‐BOTTOM COMMUNITIES OF RECENT SEAS, THEIR TEMPERATURE ADAPTATION AND THEIR “BALANCE” BETWEEN PREDATORS AND FOOD ANIMALS*
Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1956