The crown-of-thorns seastar (COTS) is a pretty crazy creature. With up to 23 arms and spanning two to three feet, it’s intimidating to handle. If you get pricked by a spine, the seastar releases neurotoxins that cause major swelling and pain. The neurotoxins, known as saponins, are used as a defense mechanism against predators.
These massive animals are one of the main contributors to the destruction of the coral reef. They feed on nearly all types of corals and can eat their own body surface area worth of coral in a single night.
At the Australian Institute of Marine Science, a lot of research is being done on COTS to mitigate outbreaks and prevent them from consuming the reef in the large numbers that they do.
ally's wavelengths 
The Crown of Thorns starfish are damaging the reefs of the Republic of Palau too. People there often inject them with a (saline?) solution to mitigate the problem.
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Yes, unfortunately there aren’t any largely effective solutions to mitigating outbreaks of COTS. Divers inject bile salts into COTS one by one at the moment, but there’s millions of them on the reef and only so many divers.
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