Since February 9th, the Mauritian association Reef Conservation has launched the national project “Control of Corallivorous Starfish Populations” (COTs project). The acanthaster or “coral eater” can grow uncontrollably on some of our islands’ reefs. For a long time now in Mayotte, it has been combated by responsible fishermen guided by Pierre Baubet (president of the Copamay cooperative) with incentives allocated for its extraction. This large, multi-armed, coral-eating starfish threatens coral reefs. A proliferation of COT populations can reduce living coral cover by 90% (Chesher 1969; Kayal et al., 2012), causing severe damage to reefs and associated species. The association calls on everyone to identify the most infected sites by following this link (or scanning the QR Code): Observation of Crown of Thorns in Mauritius
Warning: this starfish is very poisonous. Do not touch without effective protection!
