Where do the larvae of crown-of-thorns starfish settle on reefs?
What happens after settlement takes place? This is another aspect of the early life cycle of the crown-of-thorns starfish for which there are very poor biological and ecological data. The only way to determine where larvae of the crown-of-thorns starfish settle is to go and search for them on reefs. This is an almost impossible task given that they are so small (a newly settled starfish is about O.3-0.5 mm in diameter) and reefs are composed of countless places (eg. small cracks and crevices) where they can hide. Since it is thought that small starfish are unlikely to move great distances during their first year of life scientists have turned their attention to trying to find larger juvenile starfish (ie. from 6-12 months of age (10-700 mm)) in order to obtain data on where larvae settle and the critical factors involved in their survival. This also has proved to be a very difficult undertaking and large populations of juveniles have only been found infrequently on reefs; more often a
