Population outbreaks and large aggregations of Drupella on the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

Drupella spp. are marine snails that feed exclusively on reef-building corals in the Indo-Pacific region. Since the early 1980s, numerous reports of large aggregations and population outbreaks of Drupella killing corals and damaging coral reefs have lead to the perception that population outbreaks of Drupella are common, widespread and destructive.