[OANNES Foro] A mass mortality of subtropical intertidal populations of a sea urchin : analysis of potential links with environmental conditions

[Mario Cabrejos]

Marine Ecology
Volume 33, Issue 3, pages 377-385, September 2012
Article first published online: 11 OCT 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2011.00491.x

A mass mortality of subtropical intertidal populations of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus: analysis of potential links with environmental conditions
Dominique Girard, Sabrina Clemente, Kilian Toledo-Guedes, Alberto Brito, José Carlos Hernández
Biodiversidad, Ecología Marina y Conservación, Departamento de Biología Animal (Ciencias Marinas), Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain E-mail: dgirard en ull.es
Abstract
An outbreak of bald sea urchin disease was detected affecting intertidal populations of the edible temperate species Paracentrotus lividus at its southernmost geographical limit. The mortality event was detected in three sites (Güímar, Palmar and Alcalá) off Tenerife, Canary Islands (Northeastern Atlantic), in October 2003, coinciding with the highest sea surface temperatures (SST) and the lowest wave heights of the year. The prevalence of infection reached 100% but did not affect equally all studied sites or the different size classes. The disease was more prevalent in large sea urchins (>40 mm). The prevalence appeared to be positively correlated with the environmental variable SST and negatively correlated with wave height. In October 2004, only two infected urchins were found (prevalence 1%) at one of the studied sites. However, during 2004 no such extreme values of temperature and wave height were observed. We conclude that high SSTs and low wave heights such as those observed during 2003 are conditions that may trigger outbreaks of urchin disease.



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