Crown of Thorns Sea Star!

[Gen San Chris]

That sounds interesting and very sadistic! I will try it with the next one I catch if John has left any for me!

 

[jigo]

I did discover a way to kill them though......
I normally dive with a stainless steel rod (point, bang on tank, etc.) and punch many holes in them leaving them still in one piece. I throw them into the coral fish and they go wild eating the guts hanging out. They always die after that......

i heard that's the surest way to help them propagate. COTs are supposed to release eggs when they get hurt.

 

[jigo]

please see: http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=b21mx171t2400680&size=largest

We have plenty around here, but have not noticed them in other areas of the PI's.

we have those in anilao (the one in the pdf eating the COT). they look like limp anemones with usually a shrimp in residence.

 

[Gen San Chris]

Yup, we have them in Gen San also but they tend to be deeper than the crown of thorns hang out! The shrimps are fun though!
John DID finish the collection today at 6,000 crown of thorns removed! Good for him!

 

[CODMAN]

Dang! Looks like we might have to start protecting the COTs from these nasty anemones!

Funny how nature has ways of taking care of itself..:cool2: These predatory anemones seem pretty cool.:cool2: It's kinda ironic that something so soft and delicate kills and eats something so tough and spiny!

Cheers!

 

[Just another Cinderella]

My aged memory seems to recall that one effective natural predator for the COT is the Harlequin or Clown shrimp [Hymenocer picta?]. Anybody else know about that?
Was there a die off of these shrimp in the area, where they harvested for the aquarium trade?

I guess I need more coffee before I start posting.

 

[CODMAN]

Harlequin shrimp do eat sea stars, but I don't know if they specifically eat COTs.

 

[World Wide Diver]

Originally Posted by Babydamulag
I did discover a way to kill them though......
I normally dive with a stainless steel rod (point, bang on tank, etc.) and punch many holes in them leaving them still in one piece. I throw them into the coral fish and they go wild eating the guts hanging out. They always die after that......

Posted by Jigo
i heard that's the surest way to help them propagate. COTs are supposed to release eggs when they get hurt.

It is now widely accepted that distressed cots release a stress hormone which causes other cots to release eggs.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Each female can release up to 60 million eggs.

Using dry acid "sodium bisulfate" to kill cots immediately prevents the hormone to be sent. This method is also harmless to corals.

The problem is that each cot gun cost around $300 US and sourcing sodium bisulfate is hard in many places.

Gen San Chris and Davao Scuba each have a cot gun which have not been used yet to kill a single cot (guns have been here for 16 months)..

We sourced/bought them from Australia but have not yet sourced sodium bisulfate.

Again, please could Manila based divers send a contact for suppliers of sodium bisulfate. Swimming pool chemical suppliers will have this - especially if they deal with Astral pool supplies.

Any divers from the US or Canada with contacts to pool companies there, please might you consider asking your contacts if they would be willing to donate this chemical to control cot outbreaks.

Thanks



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[Gen San Chris]

I will get a supply of Sodium Bisulphate from Manila from Aquamundo as they use it in their pools. It has to be sent by ship as its a chemical and concidered an hazardous cargo!
I will order the next time I have a Sea Cargo order to here! It wont be long to wait until it gets here and we stage chemical warfare against this nasty enemy!

DEATH TO ALL CROWN OF THORNS!

LONG LIVE THE ATLANTIC LION FISH!

 

[kosmonooit]

What about turning them upside down with a rock on top to immobolise them? That's what a pom instructor advised (Blue Rock, Subic)

Rreading above, guess they can still release them stress hormones in that position though before they starve and die.