Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae can feed on organic matter released from corals

Ryota Nakajima; Nobuyuki Nakatomi; Haruko Kurihara; Michael D. Fox; Jennifer E. Smith; Ken Okaji

doi:10.3390/d8040018

Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae can feed on organic matter released from corals

Ryota Nakajima, Nobuyuki Nakatomi, Haruko Kurihara, Michael D. Fox, Jennifer E. Smith, Ken Okaji

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested that Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS) larvae may be able to survive in the absence of abundant phytoplankton resources suggesting that they may be able to utilize alternative food sources. Here, we tested the hypothesis that COTS larvae are able to feed on coral-derived organic matter using labeled stable isotope tracers (13C and 15N). Our results show that coral-derived organic matter (coral mucus and associated microorganisms) can be assimilated by COTS larvae and may be an important alternative or additional food resource for COTS larvae through periods of low phytoplankton biomass. This additional food resource could potentially facilitate COTS outbreaks by reducing resource limitation.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Diversity
Volume	8
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/d8040018
State	Published - Jan 1 2016
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-09-23

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecological Modeling
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Ecology
Nature and Landscape Conservation

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10.3390/d8040018

Cite this

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title = "Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae can feed on organic matter released from corals",

abstract = "Previous studies have suggested that Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS) larvae may be able to survive in the absence of abundant phytoplankton resources suggesting that they may be able to utilize alternative food sources. Here, we tested the hypothesis that COTS larvae are able to feed on coral-derived organic matter using labeled stable isotope tracers (13C and 15N). Our results show that coral-derived organic matter (coral mucus and associated microorganisms) can be assimilated by COTS larvae and may be an important alternative or additional food resource for COTS larvae through periods of low phytoplankton biomass. This additional food resource could potentially facilitate COTS outbreaks by reducing resource limitation.",

author = "Ryota Nakajima and Nobuyuki Nakatomi and Haruko Kurihara and Fox, {Michael D.} and Smith, {Jennifer E.} and Ken Okaji",

note = "Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-09-23",

year = "2016",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3390/d8040018",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "8",

journal = "Diversity",

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T1 - Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae can feed on organic matter released from corals

AU - Nakajima, Ryota

AU - Nakatomi, Nobuyuki

AU - Kurihara, Haruko

AU - Fox, Michael D.

AU - Smith, Jennifer E.

AU - Okaji, Ken

N1 - Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-09-23

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Previous studies have suggested that Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS) larvae may be able to survive in the absence of abundant phytoplankton resources suggesting that they may be able to utilize alternative food sources. Here, we tested the hypothesis that COTS larvae are able to feed on coral-derived organic matter using labeled stable isotope tracers (13C and 15N). Our results show that coral-derived organic matter (coral mucus and associated microorganisms) can be assimilated by COTS larvae and may be an important alternative or additional food resource for COTS larvae through periods of low phytoplankton biomass. This additional food resource could potentially facilitate COTS outbreaks by reducing resource limitation.

AB - Previous studies have suggested that Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS) larvae may be able to survive in the absence of abundant phytoplankton resources suggesting that they may be able to utilize alternative food sources. Here, we tested the hypothesis that COTS larvae are able to feed on coral-derived organic matter using labeled stable isotope tracers (13C and 15N). Our results show that coral-derived organic matter (coral mucus and associated microorganisms) can be assimilated by COTS larvae and may be an important alternative or additional food resource for COTS larvae through periods of low phytoplankton biomass. This additional food resource could potentially facilitate COTS outbreaks by reducing resource limitation.

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JO - Diversity

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Crown-of-thorns starfish larvae can feed on organic matter released from corals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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