Abstract
WHEN Acanthaster planci, the coral-predating crown-of-thorns starfish, encounters living coral or when it is presented with coral extracts, it rears the arms near to the stimulus source aborally and retracts the tube feet of these arms into the ambulacral groove1,2. This aversive behaviour has generally been attributed to the effect of discharge of coral nematocysts1–3, or to toxins released from nematocysts4. But arm rearing may be evoked before contact is made with corals, and both “withdrawal” responses are produced by non-coral food or food extracts which stimulate A. planci to feed (R.J.M., unpublished). This suggests that it is not nematocysts or their toxins which are responsible, but rather chemicals from coral tissue. The experiments described here show that this is the case: the function of the aversive response seems to be protection of the starfish against nematocyst discharge on contact with coral.
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MOORE, R., HUXLEY, C. Aversive behaviour of crown-of-thorns starfish to coral evoked by food-related chemicals. Nature 263, 407–409 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263407a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/263407a0
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