Crown-of-thorns seastars (COTS, Acanthaster spp.) are the most notorious coral predators, whose devastating outbreaks cause recurrent and extensive coral depletion across Indo-Pacific reefs. However, the spread potential of COTS outbreaks and the anthropogenic role in their initiation have remained a subject of intense debate for over five decades.
Leiva, C., Martín-Huete, M. & Lemer, S. Genomic analyses support locally derived crown-of-thorns seastar outbreaks in the Pacific. BMC Biol 23, 244 (2025).
Publication
