The ecological effects of high densities of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) are driven by their cumulative feeding pressure on coral assemblages, making accurate predictions of feeding impacts essential for management. Despite this, a limited understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of feeding behaviour, and the environmental and biological drivers underlying them constrains our capacity to predict feedin...

Despite extensive research on the western Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster cf. solaris ), especially from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR), there are persistent knowledge gaps that constrain understanding and management. Given renewed population irruptions of CoTS on the GBR, alongside escalating climate impacts and direct anthropogenic pressures, a quantitative assessment of knowledge gaps was undertake...

Limited detectability of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) undermines the capacity to survey and manage population irruptions, though few studies have considered the factors that influence detectability. This study explores spatiotemporal variation in detectability of CoTS during emerging population irruptions in four regions of the Northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), by comparing recorded densities based on the number of CoTS si...

Ecomorphology is essential to understanding the evolution and biogeography of species. However, morphological studies that focus on nongame or ‘rough’ fish groups such as Gar (Lepisosteidae), outside of a phylogenetic context, are comparatively rare. Herein, we investigate the effects of sex, size, and location in a river to assess the potential for sexual dimorphism, allometry, habitat, or some combination to drive observed m...

Crown-of-thorns seastar (CoTS, Acanthaster cf. solaris ) outbreaks remain a significant cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and across the West-Pacific Ocean. Previous outbreaks on the GBR have only been discovered once fully established, which constrains opportunities for effective control. Early detection of outbreaks would provide an important opportunity for early intervention and increase understanding of...

Ocean warming and population irruptions of crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS; Acanthaster cf. solaris ) are two of the greatest threats to coral reefs. As such, there is significant interest in understanding how CoTS may be directly impacted by rising ocean temperatures. Settlement of planktonic larvae and subsequent metamorphosis is purported to be a major population bottleneck in marine invertebrates, yet it is unknown how ocea...

Population irruptions of Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish ( Acanthaster cf. solaris ) have caused substantial damage to coral reefs, but it is largely unknown how this asteroid will fare in a warmer ocean. We exposed these starfish to one of four thermal treatments, with final temperatures of 26 °C (control, annual average), 28 °C (summer average), 30 °C (summer maximum) and 32 °C (predicted summer maximum by 2100). We measure...

Seven abiotic and biotic variables were tested to determine whether they influence the recruitment to age two of yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), in waters of southern Lake Michigan, USA. Recruitment was analysed using a Ricker stock‐recruitment relationship that accounts for density dependency. Significant model variables tested individually and ranked by total variance explained included the abundance of sexually m...

The closure of the Indiana commercial fishery in Lake Michigan in 1997 provided the opportunity to examine the effects of commercial exploitation on the yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), population. Data from annual gillnet and trawl sampling, recreational angler creel surveys and commercial fishing harvest were used to determine whether changes in length–frequency distributions and sex ratios were altered following c...