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posted by martyb on Tuesday September 19 2017, @06:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the insert-Lisa-SImpson-quip-here dept.

A giant starfish-eating snail could be unleashed to help save the Great Barrier Reef, officials said Monday, with a trial underway to breed thousands of the rare species.

Predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, which munch coral, are naturally-occurring but have proliferated due to pollution and agricultural run-off at the struggling World Heritage-listed ecosystem.

Their impact has been profound with a major study of the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long reef's health in 2012 showing coral cover halved over the past 27 years, with 42 percent of the damage attributed to the pest.

Now Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) research has shown they avoid areas where the Pacific triton sea snail—also known as the giant triton—is present.

The snails—which can grow to half a metre—have a well developed sense of smell and can hunt their prey by scent alone.

Research showed they were particularly fond of crown-of-thorns, but only eat a few each week, and with the snail almost hunted to extinction for their shells, there are not many left.

The snails are expected to move quickly to counter the starfish.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:26AM (11 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:26AM (#570098) Journal

    Remember the great Rabbit plague? Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport
    And that wasn't the first disaster that befell the land down under after the British riff raff arrived.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:34AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:34AM (#570099)

    So in 15 years time, they will be bringing in a snail-eating starfish...

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:50AM (1 child)

      by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:50AM (#570102)

      From the article is reads that the snails are local to the area and a natural predator to the starfish, but had been over hunted to for their shells. Probably what contributed to the starfish getting out of hand in the first place.

      It seems the plan is to raise as many of the snails as they can in captivity and then release them back into the wild when the snails are large enough to fend for themselves.

      I just hope it isn't too little too late to help the reef.

      --
      "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:23PM

        by driverless (4770) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:23PM (#570313)

        The snails are expected to move quickly to counter the starfish.

        Yep, those snails will just be racing along to gobble up all the starfish.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:35AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:35AM (#570114)

      You mean snail-eating gorillas, and then "when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death."

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:48AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:48AM (#570119)

        "when wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death."

        "Oh, our plan was perfect. It's just that we didn't expect global warming to get in the way."

        • (Score: 2) by Snow on Tuesday September 19 2017, @02:43PM

          by Snow (1601) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @02:43PM (#570195) Journal

          That's where North Korea and nuclear winter comes in.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:59AM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 19 2017, @07:59AM (#570107) Journal

    Remember the great Rabbit plague?

    Better yet: Cane toad [wikipedia.org] - invading Australia since 1935, some species learned by themselves how to eat them [wikipedia.org], others are being taught and are learning [huffingtonpost.com.au].
    The best chance to manage their population: declasify bufotenin [wikipedia.org] - a mild hallucinogen/psychedelic (deadly in high doses).

    Fortunately, the Pacific triton sea snail seems to actually be in a need for an increased size of its population.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:17AM (3 children)

      by coolgopher (1157) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @08:17AM (#570113)

      Someone should check whether the giant triton also eats cane beetles...

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday September 19 2017, @10:33AM (2 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 19 2017, @10:33AM (#570135) Journal

        Or, if not, cane toads?

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Tuesday September 19 2017, @02:09PM (1 child)

          by coolgopher (1157) on Tuesday September 19 2017, @02:09PM (#570184)

          Failing that, perhaps foxes?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @04:18PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 19 2017, @04:18PM (#570239)

            That's the beauty of the plan, gorillas can't survive the winter!