Tel Aviv University experts reported that a sudden epidemic ravaging the Red Sea killed an entire species of sea urchin, depriving them of their meat and turning them into skeletons. About these zoologists reported In the journal Royal Society Open Science.
“Sea urchins are herbivorous inhabitants of coral reefs. They feed on algae, thereby protecting the habitat. “Without the urchins, the algae will grow uncontrollably, interfering with the corals and, as a result, the corals will disappear,” he said.
Coral reefs are geological structures formed by communities of invertebrates called coral polyps. As a rule, they occur in shallow waters of tropical seas and, in addition to creating a habitat for many animals, they protect the coast from the harmful effects of sea waves.
Just two months ago, thousands of Black Sea urchins (Diadema cetosum) lived in the Gulf of Aqaba at the northern end of the Red Sea and were feeding on excess algae, keeping the corals healthy. Now only their skeletons remain after their tissues were eaten by a mysterious pathogen.
“In just two days, a healthy sea urchin turns into a skeleton with massive tissue loss,” the scientists said.
Earlier in the year, researchers noticed the first signs of an outbreak in porcupines in the Mediterranean when they started getting sick in the waters around Greece and Turkey. From there, the disease appears to have spread south via the Suez Canal to the Red Sea.
Scientists suspect a pathogenic ciliate parasite, a single-celled microorganism, that wiped out the entire Caribbean sea urchin population in 1983.
The authors say urgent action is needed to prevent the complete eradication of Red Sea and Mediterranean sea urchin populations and to establish breeding populations of uninfected urchins so that they can be returned to the oceans once the epidemic is over.
Source: Gazeta
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