Mass mortality of the echinoid Diadema antillarum Philippi in Jamaica
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
[Extract] During the summer of 1983 Jamaican populations of the ubiquitous spiny sea urchin, Diadema antillarum Philippi, suffered mass mortalities. The die-off spread around most of the ocastline of Jamaica wihtin about 8 weeks, causing local mortality rates close to 100%. Diadema antillarum is a major herbivore (Randall et al., 1964; Ogden et al., 1973; Sammarco et al., 1974; Carpenter, 1981), whose feeding activities cause considerable amounts of bioerosion (Steam and Scoffin, 1977) and affect coral settlement (Sommarco, 1980; 1982). Therefore, the drastic decline of Diadema populations could result in far reaching changes in overall reef community structure and dynamics. Here we describe the outbreak and course of the urchin die-off along part of the north coast of Jamaica, and give a brief outline of its effect on the reef ecology so far.
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Bulletin of Marine Science
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36
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1553-6955
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7
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Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
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