The Crown-of-Thorns secretome: Towards a control technology

The chronic and acute stressors leading to coral cover loss in the Indo-Pacific are brief discussed and the role of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) as a causative agent is reviewed. The biological attributes of COTS bestowing it as an outbreak keystone species within coral reef ecosystems are discussed followed by an examination of its life history to identify those stages which could be critical control points. The established approaches to manage outbreaks, which have changed little in half a century, are examined but are essentially limited to physical elimination on a one-by-one basis. The importance of (but much overlooked) chemical-ecological processes in Predator:Prey (COTS:Coral) interactions are discussed along with their potential inclusion in an integrated pest management strategy. The main components of marine chemical ecology and the role of chemical signalling in the marine 'smellscape' are presented and examined as possible avenues to develop novel and innovate control technologies against COTS. Finally the rationale for using a holistic approach, from genome (source) to transcriptome and metabolome (signal), to identify and characterise the secretome is outlined.