Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns seastars (CoTS) are one of the leading causes of coral decline on Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Predator removal has been proposed to be a possible mechanism contributing to CoTS outbreaks in this region. Although some data exist on predation of adults, little work has been conducted on predators of juvenile CoTS. The aim of this study was therefore to establish whether predation of juvenile CoTS (1–9 months old after settlement) by peppermint shrimp ( L. vittata) is affected by the age, size, or diet of juvenile CoTS. Through a set of ten predation experiments and statistical modeling, this study demonstrated that both age and size of juvenile CoTS are important factors affecting partial and lethal predation. Age was, however, found to be a better predictor of changes in probability (P) of lethal and partial predation (based on smaller AICc). Up to the age of ~ 4 months post-settlement, the probability of lethal predation over a span of 3 d of the experiment was nearly 1. Juvenile CoTS > 4 months old were rarely consumed entirely (P lethal predation = 0) yet showed increased partial predation (such as arm removal or damage to the center of the body) with probabilities increasing after 6 months post-settlement. A subset of CoTS over the age of 4 months was offered either coral or crustose coralline algae (CCA) as food to test for the effect of diet on predation. Diet did not significantly impact either partial or lethal predation. Thus, peppermint shrimp were identified as predators of juvenile CoTS up to an age of 4 months post-settlement, yet partial predation past this age still occurs, which may have consequences on population dynamics. The present study and future research on other juvenile predators fill important gaps in understanding CoTS population outbreaks.

中文翻译：

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薄荷虾 (Lysmata vittata) 捕食幼年棘冠海星 (Acanthaster cf. solaris) 是否取决于年龄、大小或饮食？

棘冠海星 (CoTS) 的爆发是印度-太平洋珊瑚礁珊瑚数量减少的主要原因之一。已提议去除捕食者是导致该地区 CoTS 爆发的一种可能机制。尽管存在一些关于捕食成虫的数据，但对幼年 CoTS 捕食者的研究很少。因此，本研究的目的是确定薄荷虾 (L. vittata) 对幼年 CoTS（定居后 1-9 个月大）的捕食是否受到幼年 CoTS 的年龄、大小或饮食的影响。通过一组十个捕食实验和统计模型，本研究表明，幼年 CoTS 的年龄和大小都是影响部分和致死捕食的重要因素。然而，年龄是 发现它可以更好地预测致命和部分捕食的概率 (P) 的变化（基于较小的 AICc）。直到定居后约 4 个月的年龄，在实验的 3 天跨度内致命捕食的概率接近 1。> 4 个月大的幼年 CoTS 很少被完全消耗（P 致命捕食 = 0）但显示增加部分捕食（例如手臂移除或身体中心受损），在定居后 6 个月后概率增加。4 个月大的 CoTS 子集被提供珊瑚或硬壳珊瑚藻 (CCA) 作为食物，以测试饮食对捕食的影响。饮食对部分或致命的捕食没有显着影响。因此，在定居后 4 个月龄内，薄荷虾被确定为幼年 CoTS 的捕食者，然而，超过这个年龄的部分捕食仍然发生，这可能对种群动态产生影响。目前对其他幼年捕食者的研究和未来研究填补了了解 CoTS 种群爆发的重要空白。