Examples of development of <i>Acanthaster planci</i> larvae.

<p>(a) Brachiolaria (day 16) with rudiment (r), (b) late-bipinnaria (day 7), (c) early-bipinnaria (day 4), (d-f) abnormal, distorted or arrested development.</p

Larval (a) length and (b) width for <i>Acanthaster planci</i> reared in five algal concentrations, represented as chl <i>a</i> concentration (μg L^-1) on days 4, 7 and 10 (n = 10).

<p>Boxes represent the interquartile range (25 and 75^th percentile), the horizontal line is the median, and the whiskers represent the data range. Tukey’s HSD test: levels not connected by the same letter are significantly different (within each day).</p

Regions on the Great Barrier Reef where hotspots of <i>Acanthaster planci</i> outbreaks occur (Wet Tropics, Burdekin, Fitzroy), with indication of coastal, mid-shelf and offshore reefs.

<p>The ‘initiation box’ for <i>A</i>. <i>planci</i> outbreaks between Cooktown and Cairns [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122010#pone.0122010.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>] is indicated by the rectangle.</p

Levels of chl <i>a</i> (μg L^-1) on the Great Barrier Reef where hotspots of <i>Acanthaster planci</i> outbreaks occur (Wet Tropics, Burdekin and Fitzroy), when larvae would be expected in the plankton (November-March).

<p>Average (a) natural chl <i>a</i> from 2011–2014 (n = 20; ±se), and (b) mean and (c) maximum chl <i>a</i> recorded for the week following major cyclone or flood events between 2009–2014 (n = 7; ±se). Data sourced from eReefs (<a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/marinewaterquality/" target="_blank">http://www.bom.gov.au/marinewaterquality/</a>).</p

Average (a) percent settlement and (b) size of recently settled <i>Acanthaster planci</i> juveniles at day 18, following rearing larval rearing in five algal concentrations represented as chl <i>a</i> concentration (μg L^-1) across all settlement assays (±se).

<p>Tukey’s HSD test: levels not connected by the same letter are significantly different.</p