Researchers from Israel identify the pathogen causing sea urchin mass mortalities in the Red Sea

A continuing study from Tel Aviv University has found that the deadly epidemic discovered last year, which has essentially wiped out Eilat's most abundant and ecologically significant sea urchins, has spread across the Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean. The alarming results were published in Current Biology.According to the researchers, what appeared at first to be a severe but local epidemic, has quickly spread through the region, and now threatens to become a global pandemic.The researchers estimate that since it broke out in December 2022, the epidemic has annihilated most of the sea urchin populations (of the species affected by the disease) in the Red Sea, as well as an unknown number of sea urchins, estimated at hundreds of thousands, worldwide.Sea urchins are considered the 'gardeners' of coral reefs, feeding on the algae that compete with the corals for sunshine—and their disappearance can severely impact the delicate balance on coral reefs globally. The researchers note ...