National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Photo: Starfish Swarm Devouring Corals in Indonesia


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Crown-of-thorns starfish, like the pair seen above, eat coral by spreading their stomachs over the living animals inside, then secreting enzymes that liquefy the corals' tissue.

A recent outbreak of hundreds of the predatory starfish in Indonesia has conservationists concerned about their impact on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

Photograph courtesy the Wildlife Conservation Society