Sea snail an option to rescue Barrier Reef from starfish

SYDNEY - A giant starfish-eating snail could be unleashed to help save the Great Barrier Reef, officials said on Monday, with a trial under way to breed thousands of the rare species.

Predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, which munch coral, are naturally-occurring but have proliferated due to pollution and agricultural runoff at the struggling World Heritage-listed ecosystem.

Their impact has been profound, with a major study of the 2,300-kilometer-long reef's health in 2012 showing coral cover halved over the past 27 years, with 42 percent of the damage attributed to the pest.