Report

Title

Crown of Thorns Seastars Threats Posed to Mahs coral reefs

Objective

The monitoring and eradication of the crown of thorns seastars around the northwest region of Ma-
h island, Seychelles

Summary

GVI and SNPA SCUBA divers partner up for crown of thorns (COT) eradication dives, these are ar-
ranged based on the analysis of data recorded by GVI staff and volunteers, who document COT
sightings and alert SNPA to any explosions in population condensed in a certain area. The eradica-
tion/removal of the COTS is an important step to assisting the restoration of the reef.

Report

GVI has been partnering with the SNPA once again, in efforts to assess the magnitude of the threat
the coral reefs of Mahe, including Baie Ternay, are under due to predation from crown of thorns sea
stars, Acanthaster planci.

This sea star is a corallivore, almost exclusively consuming live sclerectinian corals. An average sized
adult (40 cm) can kill up to 478 square cm of live coral per day through its grazing activities (Glynn,
1976; Keesing and Lucas, 1992; Wilson, et al., 2008). Signs of its presence are obvious; the coral
skeleton is left behind as the result of starfish feeding and stands out sharply as patches of pure
white, which eventually become overgrown with algae (Chesher, 1969. Crown-of-thorns outbreaks
thus result in an alteration of the coral community structure (Kayal, et al., 2012).

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During every dive, GVI staff and volunteers note incidental sightings, which can include marine meg-
afauna and many unusual invertebrates, one of which is the crown of thorns. The recordings are
presented to Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) and action is taken when noticeable num-
bers are found in a condensed area.

Over the past few months GVI have been noting the increase in COT numbers when monitoring the
reef in and outside of Baie Ternay. Our dives span from our most southerly site, site 23; Therese Is-
land, all the way to Lilot in the very north, site 18. These can be seen below in Figure 1.

Figure 1- GVI Survey sites

April time saw a very successful eradication dive in Baie Ternay Marine Park, where over 170 COTs
were removed from the park. The marine park has shown to not only be a very important breeding
ground for many marine species found of the coast of Mahe, but also to hold the highest abundance
and diversity of both fish and coral species. Therefore the removal of these coral grazing sea stars is
of exceptional importance.

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The latest eradication team up was during May, where a few staff members met early morning at
Beau Vallon beach. The morning began slowly, with not too many being located, this was due to
scanning new areas of reef that had not been surveyed. However after a few hours crawling along
the coastline, the team began to find more promising areas, and by the afternoon the team had
struck gold. A flurry of 8 divers, the clashing of steel swords and toxic spines across the reef, the fe-
verish swimming and hauling back and forth from the sea floor to the boat and over 16 collective
hours underwater, ended in a total of 294 crown of thorns being removed.

Although these seem like large quantities being eradicated, these coral predators reproduce at a
prolific rate which requires continually attention from the parks authority if the coral reefs of Mahe
are to thrive.

References
Glynn, P. 1976. Some physical and biological determinants of coral community structure in the
Easern Pacific. Ecological Monographs, 46 (4): 431-456.
Kayal M., Vercelloni J., Lison de Loma T., Bosserelle P., Chancerelle Y., Geoffroy S., Stievenart C., Mi-
chonneau F., Penin L., Planes S., Adjeroud M. Predator crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci)
outbreak, mass mortality of corals, and cascading effects on reef fish and benthic communities. PLoS
One. 2012;7(10):e47363
Keesing, J., J. Lucas. 1992. Field measurement of feeding and movement rates of the crown-of-
thorns starfish Acanthaster planci (L.). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 156: 89104.
Wilson, S., S. Burgess, A. Cheal, M. Emslie, R. Fisher, I. Miller, N. Polunin, H. Sweatman. 2008. Habitat
utilization by coral reef fish: Implications for specialists vs. generalists in a changing environment.
Journal of Animal Ecology, 77 (2): 220-228.

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