ABSTRACT Gulf of Mannar (GoM) in the southeast coast of India is known for its coral reefs and reef-associated biodiversity. Corals in GoM were affected to a significant extent by climate change-driven coral bleaching in 2016, and are currently recovering. After the bleaching mortality that corals suffered, the competition for space between corals and sponges is obvious in GoM. Rhabdastrella globostellata is a common marine sponge found overgrowing live coral colonies of the patch reefs in GoM at Pattinamaruthoor in March 2019. Underwater assessment of the reef revealed that 60.06% live coral cover was dominated by Acropora corals (81.91%). Among the acroporans 8.23% of colonies were found overgrown by R. globostellata. During the night dives the tiger cowrie Cypraea tigris was observed to feed on R. globostellata. From this observation the present study infers that C. tigris helps the corals fight these sponges, and concludes that tiger cowries should be protected and promoted to tackle climate change implications.

中文翻译：

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在印度马纳尔湾以鹿角珊瑚为主的珊瑚礁中，虎蜈蚣 Cypraea tigris 以竞争珊瑚的海绵 Rhabdastrella globostellata 为食

摘要 印度东南海岸的马纳尔湾 (GoM) 以其珊瑚礁和与珊瑚礁相关的生物多样性而闻名。GoM 的珊瑚在 2016 年受到气候变化驱动的珊瑚白化的严重影响，目前正在恢复。在珊瑚遭受白化死亡之后，珊瑚和海绵之间的空间竞争在 GoM 变得明显。Rhabdastrella globostellata 是一种常见的海洋海绵，于 2019 年 3 月在 Pattinamaruthoor 的 GoM 斑块礁的活珊瑚群落中发现过度生长。 对珊瑚礁的水下评估显示，60.06% 的活珊瑚覆盖率由鹿角珊瑚 (81.91%) 主导。在 acroporans 中，8.23% 的菌落被 R. globostellata 发现。在夜间潜水期间，观察到虎贝 Cypraea tigris 以 R. globostellata 为食。