Crown of Thorns

[Chuck SS]

Check this link out to another discussion in the forums here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/philippine-paradise-divers/275275-crown-thorns-sea-star.html

Long tread above but loads of information that many herein may find enlightening ! Oh yes in reply to above: " It (the COT) is endemic to tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean." And that includes a lot of area!!!! A good point though is to know your area and wheter or not you are looking at a normal ecosystem or one that has problems with too many of these predators.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Considering that the pertinent definition of endemic is;

restricted or peculiar to a locality or region,

I fail to see how an "enlightened" person could say COT's are endemic to anywhere. They are a natural part of many reef ecosystems, but how can one say they are restricted or unique to A locality or region?

 

[Chuck SS]

Because you indicate that your definition is pertinent does not make that so at all! I used it in a general sense such as Endemic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and said exactly what I meant to say. I may or may not be enlightened but I started studying and hosted research on the COT in the 1960s and have followed it since, I hold two pertinent Master's degrees and did my PhD work in Water so you decide if I am enlightened enough to converse on the subject! Amazed that you are trying to nit pick words instead of contributing to the discussion at hand in a non confrontational manner?
Except for the jabs and jibes such as this this was a great discussion for the msot part.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Because you indicate that your definition is pertinent does not make that so at all! I used it in a general sense such as Endemic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and said exactly what I meant to say. I may or may not be enlightened but I started studying and hosted research on the COT in the 1960s and have followed it since, I hold two pertinent Master's degrees and did my PhD work in Water so you decide if I am enlightened enough to converse on the subject! Amazed that you are trying to nit pick words instead of contributing to the discussion at hand in a non confrontational manner?
Except for the jabs and jibes such as this this was a great discussion for the msot part.

I did not indicate that MY definition is pertinent. In the COT conversation, I do not see how one can pertinently use endemic in a general sense, unless you got your post graduate degrees from Wikipedia.

Personally, when I go to your linked Wikipedia page, I think it also defines endemic in such a way as to make your statement unenlightened.

When I do a Yahoo search of "endemic definition" the first page of that search has 11 hits; here are 10 of them.....

endemic - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

ADJECTIVE:
1. Prevalent in or peculiar to a particular locality, region, or people: diseases endemic to the tropics.

2. Ecology Native to or confined to a certain region.

endemic - definition of endemic by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

Same as Yahoo above.

Endemic - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1..a : belonging or native to a particular people or country
....b : characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment
2.....: restricted or peculiar to a locality or region <endemic diseases> <an endemic species>

Endemic | Define Endemic at Dictionary.com

1. natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place
2. belonging exclusively or confined to a particular place

endemic - Definition of endemic at YourDictionary.com

1. native to a particular country, nation, or region: said of plants, animals, and, sometimes, customs, etc.

endemic - definition of endemic in the Medical dictionary - by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

Natural to or characteristic of a particular place, population, or climate.

Endemic - Definition | WordIQ.com

Endemic, in a broad sense, can mean belonging or native to, characteristic of, or prevalent in a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; Native to an area or scope. For instance, AIDS is said to be endemic in Africa.

It also has two specific meanings:

In ecology, an organism being "endemic" means exclusively native to a place or biota. It is in contrast to any one of several terms meaning "not native".

In epidemiology, an infection is said to be "endemic" in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs.

Endemic - definition from Biology-Online.org

Origin: gr. Endemos = dwelling in a place Originating where it is found.....

.....A plant that is native to a certain limited area; it is an endemic found only (on) this island.....

.....Native to or confined to a certain region; the islands have a number of interesting endemic species. Relating to a particular geographic area, such as the red squirrel population which is endemic to the North of Scotland.

endemic - Wiktionary

endemic (not comparable)

Native to a particular area or culture; originating where it occurs.
Kangaroos are endemic to Australia.

Peculiar to a particular area or region; not found in other places.
The endemic religion of Easter Island arrived with the Polynesian settlers.

Prevalent in a particular area or region.
Malaria is endemic to the tropics.

With a Doctoral title, your use of the term is least conflicted with by the following...

Endemic definition - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms

Endemic: Present in a community at all times but in relatively low frequency. Something that is endemic is typically restricted or peculiar to a locality or region.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

As stated in my previous post; there were 11 hits on the first page of my Yahoo search of "endemic definition" - below is the one I did not include in that previous post.

Chuck SS; I am really only able to state that your typing in this thread, with regards to endemic, seems to be less than enlightened (unless the COT's in the Red Sea are genetically different from the COT's in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean's COT's are genetically different from both of those).

However one cares to look at it from Wyoming, I'm pretty sure the COT's found in Hawaii are not considered endemic to Hawaii by any of the Hawaii Academia.

Endemic (ecology) - Definition | WordIQ.com

Endemic (ecology) - Definition

Endemic in biology and ecology means exclusively native to a place or biota. It is in contrast to any one of several terms meaning "not native" (e.g., adventive, exotic, alien, introduced, naturalized, non-native). However it is also differentiated from indigenous. A species that is endemic is unique to that place or region, found naturally nowhere else. A species that is indigenous is native, but not unique because it is also native to other locations as well.

Usually the term is applied to a discrete geographical unit, most often an island or island group, but sometimes a country or other defined area.

Islands are especially likely to develop endemic forms because of their geographical isolation; remote island groups, such as Hawai'i and the Galapagos, have large numbers of endemic species. The restricted area and vulnerability to the depredations of man and introduced species mean that endemics all too easily can become extinct.
Endemics can also develop in other biologically isolated areas, such as the highlands of Ethiopia or large bodies of water like Lake Baikal.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the following ecoregions have the highest percentage of endemic plants:

Madagascar lowland forests
New Caledonia rain forests
Hawaii tropical moist forests
Madagascar dry deciduous forests
New Caledonia dry forests
Hawaii tropical dry forests
Sierra Madre de Oaxaca and Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests (Mexico, Guatemala)
Fynbos (South Africa)
Kwongan heathlands (Australia)