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Terpios Hoshinota
''Terpios hoshinota'' is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Suberitidae. It is found on rocky shores in the Indo-Pacific region. This sponge forms blackish sheets which overgrow and kill corals, and is the causal agent for the so-called "black disease" of corals. Since being discovered in Guam in 1973, this sponge has been spreading to other areas of the Indo-Pacific region and threatening coral reefs from the Maldives to the South China Sea and eastern Australia. History In the 1970s and 1980s, sponges were increasingly being observed as competitors to corals on reefs in the central western Pacific, but were not considered to be a particular threat until an encrusting species in the genus ''Terpios'' was observed in increasing quantities on Guam in 1973. The same species, not previously known to science, was recorded in 1987 from the western Caroline Islands and the northern Mariana Islands, and also found in the Philippines, Taiwan and American Samoa. The new specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klaus Rützler
Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseball player *Chris Klaus (born 1973), American entrepreneur *Frank Klaus (1887–1948), German-American boxer, 1913 Middleweight Champion *Fred Klaus (born 1967), German footballer *Josef Klaus (1910–2001), Chancellor of Austria 1966–1970 *Karl Ernst Claus (1796–1864), Russian chemist *Václav Klaus (born 1941), Czech politician, former President of the Czech Republic *Walter K. Klaus (1912–2012), American politician and farmer Notable persons whose given name is Klaus *Brother Klaus, Swiss patron saint *Klaus Augenthaler (born 1957), German football player and manager *Klaus Badelt (born 1967), German composer *Klaus Barbie (1913–1991), German SS-Hauptsturmführer and Holocaust Perpetrator *Klaus Bargsten (1911–2000), German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown-of-thorns Starfish
The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest starfish in the world. ''A. planci'' has a very wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It is perhaps most common around Australia, but can occur at tropical and subtropical latitudes from the Red Sea and the East African coast across the Indian Ocean, and across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of Central America. It occurs where coral reefs or hard coral communities occur in the region. Description The body form of the crown-of-thorns starfish is fundamentally the same as that of a typical starfish, with a central disk and radiating arms. Its special traits, however, include being disc-shaped, multiple-armed, flexible, prehensile, and heavily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
