The Hidden Parasite Wreaking Havoc on Caribbean Sea Urchins — Scientists have identified |
Scientists have identified a parasite as the cause of the mass die-off of long-spined sea urchins across the Caribbean Sea. These urchins play a vital role in marine ecosystems by feeding on algae that could otherwise overgrow and kill corals. The epidemic has resulted in a drastic reduction of the sea urchin population, ranging between 85% to 95% in affected areas.
Diadema mortalities were first reported in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in late January 2022. By late March, the condition was found across the Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, and the Mexican Caribbean. And by June of last year, it had been detected in most of the Greater Antilles, Florida, and Curacao.
In the early 1980s, long-spined sea urchins were almost completely wiped out in the Caribbean by an unknown cause, leading to around 98% declines from previous numbers. Thirty years later, their populations rebounded, but only by an estimated 12% from pre-epidemic numbers. That die-off led to rapid degradation of many coral reefs across the region that persist today, with some coral species becoming extremely rare.
“They initially did not show any sort of unusual or candidate microorganisms at all,” Hewson said. “We were a bit at a dead end.” “I saw this ciliate was actually very, very abundant,” he said. “That was the big ‘aha’ moment.” The ciliates were not present in samples from the control sites, he said.has been known to infect fish, this is the first time it has been associated with mass mortality in an invertebrate., and co-authors Mya Breitbart, a biological oceanographer at the University of South Florida, and Christina Kellogg, a microbiologist at the U.S. Geological Survey St.
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