The Crown of Thorns

Now let's focus on a specific example of a natural predator that can cause a lot of damage to coral reefs—the Crown of Thorns, or CoT starfish.

现在，让我们来看一个自然捕食者的具体例子，它会对珊瑚礁造成很大的伤害——那就是刺冠海星。

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。

The crown of thorns starfish is large, twenty-five to thirty-five centimeters in diameter, and has seven to twenty-one arms that are covered in spines.

棘冠海星很大，直径长达25到35厘米，有7到21条手臂，上面布满了刺。