Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex
As a corallivore, the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster species complex), has significant impacts on coral mortality and community structure on tropical reefs throughout its Indo-Pacific range. COTS form aggregations which systematically move through and across reefs causing significant lo...
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doaj-01bd79b07e674b6e9e1238dea9ae0acb2021-06-02T18:02:21ZengThe Company of BiologistsBiology Open2046-63902019-06-018610.1242/bio.041814041814Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complexCamilla Korsvig-Nielsen0Mike Hall1Cherie Motti2Anders Garm3 Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, MC QLD 4810, Australia Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, MC QLD 4810, Australia Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark As a corallivore, the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster species complex), has significant impacts on coral mortality and community structure on tropical reefs throughout its Indo-Pacific range. COTS form aggregations which systematically move through and across reefs causing significant loss in hard coral cover. Previous work has shown that their behaviours on the reef are influenced by rheotaxis, olfaction and vision, with vision guiding adult animals to their coral habitat at short distances. As the compound eye of starfish grows throughout life the visual capacity of juvenile eyes is putatively less than for adult animals. Here we show this to be the case. Juvenile eyes have approximately the same visual field as adult eyes but significantly lower spatial resolution. They display negative phototaxis, as observed in adults, but we found no direct proof for the use of spatial resolution in this behaviour. Our results show that juveniles are able to use their eyes to locate their habitat: the coral reef. However, their putatively lower spatial resolution would make this visual task more difficult than for the adults. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.http://bio.biologists.org/content/8/6/bio041814Sensory ecologyBehaviourStarfishEchinodermEyes |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Camilla Korsvig-Nielsen Mike Hall Cherie Motti Anders Garm |
spellingShingle |
Camilla Korsvig-Nielsen Mike Hall Cherie Motti Anders Garm Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex Biology Open Sensory ecology Behaviour Starfish Echinoderm Eyes |
author_facet |
Camilla Korsvig-Nielsen Mike Hall Cherie Motti Anders Garm |
author_sort |
Camilla Korsvig-Nielsen |
title |
Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex |
title_short |
Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex |
title_full |
Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex |
title_fullStr |
Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster species complex |
title_sort |
eyes and negative phototaxis in juvenile crown-of-thorns starfish, acanthaster species complex |
publisher |
The Company of Biologists |
series |
Biology Open |
issn |
2046-6390 |
publishDate |
2019-06-01 |
description |
As a corallivore, the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster species complex), has significant impacts on coral mortality and community structure on tropical reefs throughout its Indo-Pacific range. COTS form aggregations which systematically move through and across reefs causing significant loss in hard coral cover. Previous work has shown that their behaviours on the reef are influenced by rheotaxis, olfaction and vision, with vision guiding adult animals to their coral habitat at short distances. As the compound eye of starfish grows throughout life the visual capacity of juvenile eyes is putatively less than for adult animals. Here we show this to be the case. Juvenile eyes have approximately the same visual field as adult eyes but significantly lower spatial resolution. They display negative phototaxis, as observed in adults, but we found no direct proof for the use of spatial resolution in this behaviour. Our results show that juveniles are able to use their eyes to locate their habitat: the coral reef. However, their putatively lower spatial resolution would make this visual task more difficult than for the adults. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. |
topic |
Sensory ecology Behaviour Starfish Echinoderm Eyes |
url |
http://bio.biologists.org/content/8/6/bio041814 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT camillakorsvignielsen eyesandnegativephototaxisinjuvenilecrownofthornsstarfishacanthasterspeciescomplex AT mikehall eyesandnegativephototaxisinjuvenilecrownofthornsstarfishacanthasterspeciescomplex AT cheriemotti eyesandnegativephototaxisinjuvenilecrownofthornsstarfishacanthasterspeciescomplex AT andersgarm eyesandnegativephototaxisinjuvenilecrownofthornsstarfishacanthasterspeciescomplex |
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