[Coral-List] White spined diadema

[Stuart P. Wynne]

Dear all,

 

I have been trying to find references to the white spined Diadema
antillarum that I sometimes see in our waters here in Anguilla. As I am
not privy to open access (but please let us not get onto that subject
again!) I have been struggling to find any mention of the causes for
this, only the fact that it is a fairly common thing to see. I guess it
is a lack of pigment? As all such individuals I've seen here are large,
could it be something that signifies they are reaching old age? Does it
indicate a lack of something in their diet? Pollution/eutrophication? If
anyone has any ideas/knowledge I would love to learn.

 

On a separate note I would like to send out a big thank you to the three
people who posted on the coral-list vol 59 issue 6. For the first time
since I have been a member I did not have to wade through endless reams
of old postings (that had been left tagged to the bottom of their entry)
while trying to figure out which messages were the new messages. Well
done! Maybe we can keep this up?

 

 

Stuart Wynne
Marine Biologist
Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources
Anguilla



 




Government of Anguilla