Crown-of-thorns eat themselves out of house and home

(ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies) A world-first study on the Great Barrier Reef shows crown-of-thorns starfish have the ability to find their own way home -- a behavior previously undocumented--but only if their neighborhood is stocked with their favorite food: corals. The starfish will consume available Acropora and ultimately eat themselves out of house and home before dispersing in search of new feeding grounds.