Giant sea snails could be released into Australia's Great Barrier Reef in an attempt to eradicate the crown-of-thorns starfish, it was announced on Monday.

Researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have received a 454,000 U.S. dollar grant from the federal government to conduct breeding trials of the giant triton sea snail.

The snail is a natural predator of the crown-of-thorns starfish, a pest which is one of the leading causes of coral loss on the iconic reef. As many as 150,000 of the pests can spread over one square kilometer of the reef.

Giant triton sea snails, which can grow to be up to 50 centimeters in length, were hunted to near-extinction in the 1960s for their shells and remain rare.

The AIMS trial, which began in June 2017, has already hatched more than 100,000 swimming larvae.

Josh Frydenberg, Australia's Environment Minister, said that if the research was successful the snails could be used to disperse the starfish, which have been observed to "flee" from their predator, and prevent them from breeding.

"This new project builds on the success of Australian Institute of Marine Science research which found crown-of-thorns starfish avoid an areas where triton sea snails are present," Frydenberg said in a media release on Monday.

"A breeding program would go a long way towards helping protect an extremely vulnerable species and, possibly, managing or preventing the impact of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks on the Reef."

"If successful, this research will allow scientists to closely look at the impact of giant tritons on crown-of-thorns behaviour and test their potential as a management tool to help reduce coral lost to outbreaks."

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News

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