Coral Reef Lab Report

The crown of thorn starfish, Acanthaster planci, are currently responsible for a majority of the coral reef destruction occurring throughout the world. This creature consists of 13-16 arms that allow it to easily latch itself onto its prey. Crown of thorns starfish also contain a venomous spikey exterior that help protect them from predators that may be searching for an easy prey during their four to six-hour feed. These starfish consume coral by extruding its stomach and secretes emulsifying enzymes the will aid in digesting of the coral polyps and nutrients. After this process has concluded the left-over coral will turn paper white which signifies its death. Due to the vast amount of outbreaks of this species many coral reefs have been jeopardized.

We also be using an ROV named Hercules that will aid in our diving and more mechanical missions. In order to observe how are acting and the abundance of the crown of thorns species within the area the Argus will be deployed for ten hours to survey the amount of the species that are present within a fifteen mile radius of the reefs surrounding Efate, Epi. where the most amount of species is present. Throughout this period we will observe the eating patterns and movement of the species. From this data we can determine what kind of impact this species will have in the long run. Using the ROV Hercules, we will place a structure with cloned coral polyps from their usual prey deeper than the usual prey is found. After placing the structure further from feeding location we can gather data that will help see if these species will travel for a new food source since they have migrated in the past to shallower waters for favoring survival conditions (Houk and Raubani, 2003). After this data is collected we will be more able to develop a more clear picture of how the species acts when placed in a less suitable environment. During this experiment it is planned to capture ten crown of thorns starfish and bring it the surface. After it captured we will place it in a controlled environment which will simulate a reef. This reef will contain fish commonly found in the

It is also expected that the star wish will try to escape the tank with the giant triton water which could help us determine if breeding and releasing this species in highly abundant area of crown of thorns may help maintain more of a balanced ecosystem. However, something to consider is the rising ocean temperature and acidification. It possible that currently, the water temperatures are optimal for A. Planci larvae survival and because the ocean is at somewhat healthy state there is plenty of resources for larvae consumption. Sparks and colleagues suggest that with ocean warming and acidification the environment may be less optima for larvae survival and therefore less optimal for the species survival (Sparks et. al., 2016). As oceans are warming it is possible to see less of an effect than previously recorded. An alternate objective of this experiment is to observe larvae from A. Planci in higher pH and warmer environments to see if the species will be eliminated from the environment before experimenting with coral restoration. It is possible that the rate of environmental changes cannot keep up with Darwinian evolution concepts which then asks the question of what the environment will look like if this species is eradicated? Possible problems of this experiment is unbalancing the environment. If collection of this species happens to help protect the coral reefs we do not have any idea of what will