Lachan Roth, Gal Eviatar, Lisa-Maria Schmidt, Mai Bonomo, Tamar Feldstein-Farkash, Patrick Schubert, Maren Ziegler, Ali Al-Sawalmih, Ibrahim Souleiman Abdallah, Jean-Pascal Quod, Omri Bronstein
Sea urchins are primary herbivores on coral reefs, regulating algal biomass and facilitating coral settlement and growth.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 Recurring mass mortality events (MMEs) of Diadema species Gray, 1825 have been recorded globally,13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 the most notorious and ecologically significant of which occurred in the Caribbean in 1983,14 , 17 , 19 , 20 contributing to the shift from coral to algal-dominated ecosystems.17 , 24 , 25 Recently, first evidence of Diadema setosum mass mortality was reported from the eastern Mediterranean Sea...
May 20, 2024: Current Biology: CB