The crown-of-thorns sea star, acanthaster planci, preys on the flesh of live coral. if coral animals are attacked by these sea stars, then what actually provides nutrition to the sea star, and which chemical (besides the toxin within their nematocysts) do the corals rely on for protection?

Answer – polyps; calcium carbonate

As explained in the question, the crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci, preys on the flesh of live coral. While coral animals are attacked by these sea stars, POLYPS provides nutrition to the sea star. Corals rely on CALCIUM CARBONATE for protection (besides the toxin within their nematocysts).

the median of the data is 4.5.

small, big, or no change could occur in the phenotype. it could cause something as simple as a cats ears to curl backwards or something as frighting as death. it could also occur in the protien-coding area and have an effect on that but no effect on the amino acids. what has to occur is a changing in the hox gene or the control gene.