ABSTRACT: The transition from the post-settlement herbivorous juvenile to the coral-eating stage of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) is a fundamental step to seed population outbreaks that decimate tropical coral reefs. How the highly cryptic juveniles fare during this transition is poorly understood. We show that the juveniles are vulnerable to attack by coral during this ontogenetic diet shift to coral prey. We monitored the condition, growth, and survival of juvenile COTS during the first 3.5 mo on a diet of Acropora sp. In initial encounters, juveniles often withdrew their arms to avoid the defensive nematocysts of the corals. Within the first 67 d of being offered coral, 37.8% of the juveniles experienced various levels of sublethal and lethal damage. Damaged arms were reduced to ~65.4% of the length of an intact arm, but most injured juveniles were able to regenerate their arms with an average predicted recovery time of ~4 mo. Although sublethal damage slowed the growth of injured juveniles, their capacity to regenerate is likely to contribute to the success of this highly prolific species. Despite being the prey of COTS, coral can influence the survival of juveniles, and potentially reduce their ecological impact by prolonging their growth to reproductive maturity, delaying their transition into a coral predator, and thereby hindering recruitment into the adult population.

中文翻译：

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珊瑚防御：幼年荆棘冠海星向珊瑚状过渡的危险转变

摘要：从定居后的草食性幼体过渡到荆棘王冠海星（COTS）的珊瑚饮食阶段，是种子种群暴发的一个基本步骤，该种群暴发消灭了热带珊瑚礁。人们对这种高度隐秘的少年如何在这种过渡过程中表现不甚了解。我们表明，在这种个体发育的饮食向珊瑚猎物转移的过程中，幼鱼很容易受到珊瑚的攻击。我们在Acropora饮食的头3.5个月内监测了青少年COTS的状况，生长和存活情况sp。在初次相遇中，少年常常撤回手臂，以避开珊瑚的防御性线虫囊。在提供珊瑚的前67 d内，37.8％的幼鱼遭受了不同程度的亚致死和致死性破坏。受损的手臂减少到完整手臂长度的〜65.4％，但是大多数受伤的少年能够使手臂再生，平均预计恢复时间约为4个月。尽管亚致死性损害减缓了受害少年的生长，但它们的再生能力很可能为这一高产物种的成功做出了贡献。尽管珊瑚是COTS的猎物，但它们仍可影响未成年者的生存，并可能通过延长其生长至生殖成熟期，延迟其向珊瑚捕食者的过渡而降低其生态影响。