Diel activity patterns in crown-of-thorns starfish behavioral blind spots in coral reef management

This scientific comment draws attention to overlooked diel activity patterns in crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster sp . , based on recent field observations from the Red Sea. While limited in scope, these observations reveal increased surface presence during twilight hours—an ecologically significant behavior that remains largely absent from current coral reef monitoring protocols. By synthesizing existing behavioral research with firsthand regional insights, this commentary underscores a critical methodological gap in crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) surveillance. It advocates for the integration of temporal dynamics into management strategies to improve outbreak detection and response accuracy. The argument presented serves as a call for recalibrating COTS monitoring frameworks to better reflect the species’ behavioral ecology.