The crown of thorns starfish is a coral reef predator that preys on coral polyps.

刺冠海星是一种以珊瑚虫为食的珊瑚礁捕食者。

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A single Acanthaster can consume five to six square meters of coral polyps per year.

一只棘冠海星每年可以吃掉5到6平方米的珊瑚虫。

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Coral is actually the exoskeletons of coral polyps.

珊瑚其实是珊瑚虫的外骨骼。

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Millions of polyps grow together to form coral reefs.

VOA: special.2010.08.10

The World Wildlife Fund offers a commercial tour in Palau, Micronesia on which snorkelers can help their guide remove the invasive crown-of-thorns starfish, which every day eat their weight in coral polyps from fragile reefs.

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John Gunn, head of AIMS, said it was difficult to stop the storms and bleaching but researchers could focus their short-term efforts on the crown-of-thorns starfish, which feasts on coral polyps and can devastate reef cover.

BBC: Half of Great Barrier Reef coral lost in last 27 years