Coral reefs around the world have been plagued by the Crown of Thorns starfish which has been one of the greatest threats to the reefs since it kills the coral and moves on to do it again. They have done tremendous damage to the reefs along with global warming, etc and the damage from the starfish is immediately obvious. Researchers may have an answer. (Science Daily: Powers of attraction could decimate deadly starfish)
These are adult COTS predating on coral. White coral skeleton (foreground), unconsumed coral (background)
Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science
Right away you see the destruction they leave behind and how it's not just one but many. You know immediately there's only one solution for these nasty creatures: whack 'em.
An American who fell in love with both the Great Barrier Reef and his wife via The University of Queensland has led a breakthrough discovery that could protect one of the Seven Natural Wonders. Husband-and-wife Professor Bernard Degnan and Associate Professor Sandie Degnan, believe they, along with research colleagues, can use the powers of attraction to decimate one of the reef's fiercest enemies.
- SD
There's the claim and here's the view of whether they can do it.
In the journal Nature, the international research team has revealed crown-of-thorns starfish gather en masse due to a release of pheromones -- a scent they've decoded so the prickly pests can be lured to their capture.
- SD
Blind them with science and then whack them en masse. Excellent.
"Now we've found the genes the starfish use to communicate, we can begin fabricating environmentally safe baits that trick them into gathering in one place, making it easier to remove reproductively-primed animals."
- SD
The pheromones shouldn't have any effect any other creatures since you don't want some other species to show up for your mating ritual. It's sounding credible to bait them and then whack them.
This was a long time coming.
The painstaking process of sequencing the of crown-of-thorns genome and its pheromones was completed 30 years after Professor Degnan moved from his hometown of New York to Brisbane to study as one of UQ's first international exchange students.
- SD
The Rockhouse admires this seriously determined science-ing.
"What I like most is that we're finding a solution to a problem, not merely documenting it."
Beyond the role their genomics breakthrough brings to controlling the crown-of-thorns, the Degnans believe it could have other environmental and economical benefits.
They say a similar approach could be used to combat invasions of sea snails and other marine pests throughout the world.
- SD
These are adult COTS predating on coral. White coral skeleton (foreground), unconsumed coral (background)
Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science
Right away you see the destruction they leave behind and how it's not just one but many. You know immediately there's only one solution for these nasty creatures: whack 'em.
An American who fell in love with both the Great Barrier Reef and his wife via The University of Queensland has led a breakthrough discovery that could protect one of the Seven Natural Wonders. Husband-and-wife Professor Bernard Degnan and Associate Professor Sandie Degnan, believe they, along with research colleagues, can use the powers of attraction to decimate one of the reef's fiercest enemies.
- SD
There's the claim and here's the view of whether they can do it.
In the journal Nature, the international research team has revealed crown-of-thorns starfish gather en masse due to a release of pheromones -- a scent they've decoded so the prickly pests can be lured to their capture.
- SD
Blind them with science and then whack them en masse. Excellent.
"Now we've found the genes the starfish use to communicate, we can begin fabricating environmentally safe baits that trick them into gathering in one place, making it easier to remove reproductively-primed animals."
- SD
The pheromones shouldn't have any effect any other creatures since you don't want some other species to show up for your mating ritual. It's sounding credible to bait them and then whack them.
This was a long time coming.
The painstaking process of sequencing the of crown-of-thorns genome and its pheromones was completed 30 years after Professor Degnan moved from his hometown of New York to Brisbane to study as one of UQ's first international exchange students.
- SD
The Rockhouse admires this seriously determined science-ing.
"What I like most is that we're finding a solution to a problem, not merely documenting it."
Beyond the role their genomics breakthrough brings to controlling the crown-of-thorns, the Degnans believe it could have other environmental and economical benefits.
They say a similar approach could be used to combat invasions of sea snails and other marine pests throughout the world.
- SD
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