[Coral-List] White-spined Diadema antillarum (Esther Peters)
Robert Miller
rjmiller1 at gmail.com
Tue May 20 14:14:25 EDT 2008
Hi Alina and all,
It seems to me that the white spines are associated with shaded urchins, and
Diadema have a preference for living in cracks and caves during the day.
Sparse populations of Diadema are easily able to find such shelter as well
as enough food. Dense populations have many more urchins out in the open,
where their spines turn black. Just a hypothesis, but it could be tested.
best,
Bob
On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 4:11 PM, Szmant, Alina <szmanta at uncw.edu> wrote:
> Hi All:
>
> I responded privately to the first white Diadema email, and thought
> maybe Haris Lessios might chime in to the general discussion. Since he
> hasn't here it goes.
>
> White spined Diadema have been around as long as I can recall (1960s) in
> small numbers at least in the Puerto Rican populations. After the
> die-off they have become a much larger proportion of the population both
> in PR and FL and elsewhere. I asked Haris at least a decade ago whether
> he had any indication about a genetic difference between the white and
> black individuals, and I recall he hadn't found any. But he also
> recognized the shift in abundance of the two color morphs.
>
> So, it appears that for some reason more of the white spined variety
> survived the epidemic and contributed more offspring to the recovering
> population. They now occur together in varying proportions. Juveniles
> come in both all black and mottled colors, so it's not just an age
> issue. One possibility is that when they were sick, the black ones were
> more prone to predation than the lighter colored ones. Another would be
> that there is some disease resistance genetically-linked to the color
> genes.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Alina Szmant
>
>
>
> *******************************************************************
> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> Coral Reef Research Group
> UNCW-Center for Marine Science
> 5600 Marvin K. Moss Ln
> Wilmington NC 28409
> Tel: (910)962-2362 & Fax: (910)962-2410
> Cell: (910)200-3913
> email: szmanta at uncw.edu
> Web Page: http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> ******************************************************************
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Rex Chip
> Baumberger
> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 1:50 PM
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] White-spined Diadema antillarum (Esther
> Peters)
>
> I recall seeing the occasional white-spined D. antillarum during the
> past 4 years of reef monitoring off of south Florida. With that in mind
> from recent posts here, I was diving off of Jupiter, Fl 5-15-08 at
> 65-70' on Jupiter Ledge, and I saw a white spined Diadema. However, as
> I got closer I noticed it was about 60% white spined and the rest normal
> black spines. I wonder if anyone has noticed this in with the
> white-spined variety. I have the GPS for it if anyone is interested,
> the site is locally known as "Scarface".
>
> Rex "Chip" Baumberger
> Biological Scientist, FAU
> Marine Nutrient Dynamics Dept.
> Marine Science Division
> Harbor Branch Oceanographic Inst.
> 5600 US1 North
> Fort Pierce, FL 34946
> 772-465-2400 x398
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of
> coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 12:00 PM
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Coral-List Digest, Vol 59, Issue 18
>
>
> Send Coral-List mailing list submissions to
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: White-spined Diadema antillarum (Esther Peters)
> 2. Reef Restoration (Lee Goldman)
> 3. Re: Coral Reef Restoration (David Fisk)
> 4. photoshop trick for sat imagery (Dean Jacobson)
> 5. Re: Coral restoration (Medio, David)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 12:28:58 -0400
> From: Esther Peters <esther.peters at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] White-spined Diadema antillarum
> To: Gordon Hendler <hendler at nhm.org>
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <4830594A.4010304 at verizon.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I recall seeing large white-spined /Diadema antillarum/ in shallow water
>
> at The Indians, rock outcroppings in the British Virgin Islands. I was
> pregnant then, so could only snorkel, in 1988. I remember thinking they
>
> must not have been affected by the mass motality because they were so
> large. They might have been able to stay in the shade of the
> outcroppings.
>
> If one does a Google Scholar search on these key words "sea urchin
> melanin epidermis" one finds all kinds of interesting papers on and
> references to melanin production in the epidermis and effects of light
> and diet on pigmentation in these animals. But more studies are needed!
>
> Esther Peters, Ph.D.
> George Mason University
>
> Gordon Hendler wrote:
> > According to Moore (1966:81) large Diadema antillarum with some or
> > many
> > white or gray spines "...are found in darker and more turbid
> conditions and
> > frequently in caves. In my experience, they seem to be more common in
> deep
> > water around Caribbean reefs than at shallow depths. The spines of
> > juveniles are always banded with black and white. Individuals change
> color
> > in response to the intensity of illumination. Animals that are black
> during
> > the day pale at night.
> > Hendler et al. 1995. Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and Allies. Echinoderms
> of
> > Florida and the Caribbean. Smithsonian Institution Press. 390 pp.
> > Moore, H.B. Ecology of echinoids. In: Physiology of Echinodermata, ed.
> R.A.
> > Boolootian, 73-85. John-Wiley Interscience. N.Y.
> >
> >
> > ********************************************
> > Gordon Hendler, Ph.D.
> > Curator of Echinoderms
> > Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
> > 900 Exposition Boulevard
> > Los Angeles, California 90007 U.S.A.
> > Voice: 213 763 3526
> > Fax: 213 746 2999
> > ********************************************
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 10:43:14 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Lee Goldman <coralfarmguam at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Reef Restoration
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <86461.29273.qm at web33206.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Hi List,
>
> The discussion on reef restoration is another example of a great topic
> of interest for this list. My concern, however, is that it is reaching
> an audience that is not necessarily the right audience. Todd, your
> website (and your CNN interview) is filled with success stories in which
> you talk about positive reef restoration. In your postings here, you
> seem to understand that reefs cannot be restored to their original
> glory. I agree that something must be done, even if we can't make them
> what they were. BUT to the developers and polluters who ultimately cause
> need for this work, the message may be that we are successful in
> restoring reefs. Thus mitigating 'restoration' in exchange for
> development appears to be a commonplace and accepted. So the dilema, to
> me, is that as we get better (or think we get better) at 'restoration'
> developers use that as a means to mitigate potential damage...and all
> along we agree, at least here in this like-minded and for lack of a
> better term, 'in-crowd' list-serve, that it really isn't as successful
> as we promote it to be to the general public (the audience that really
> needs to be a part of this discussion). If this is the theme of Don's
> postings, then I have to agree with him as well. Solutions to this
> issue? Not that I can find. We can't do nothing yet anything that is
> done is seen as a mitigating factor which falls well short of the
> ultimate goal.
>
> Lee Goldman
> Coral Farm Guam
> PO Box 6682
> Tamuning, Guam 96931
> 671-646-6744
> Coralfarmguam at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 18 May 2008 23:09:12 +0200
> From: "David Fisk" <davefisk at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral Reef Restoration
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Cc: MedioD at halcrow.com
> Message-ID:
> <1dd51780805181409p2a8c963fx65cd87f283c93351 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252
>
> The pertinent point I think from David Medio's comments is that it is
> wrong to think that reef restoration can be used as an excuse to allow
> some developments to proceed - at all, or in a certain proposed manner.
> The argument that doing something (restoration) is better than doing
> nothing, usually does not stack up when it is used as an argument to
> accept a proposed development strategy. With the required sensitivity
> and developmental controls, some developments may result in minimal
> impacts, but the cost will usually be too prohibitive to be really
> effective for most developments.
>
> The true 'point of practicality' here is that restoration should not be
> be used as that offset, nor should any 'smart' engineering per se, as
> it's too easy to let serious impacts to go ahead when the current
> knowledge base clearly shows such 'offsets' will not deliver what it is
> promised. In previous posts I have said sufficient re the use of the
> same technologies to reverse larger scale disturbances including
> predicted climate change effects, but I still hear of proposals claiming
> to do just that. For example, a publicly available UN document dated
> April 2008 demonstrates how serious this situation has progressed, and
> that I am not making idle arguments. Here is a recent UN link to a
> UNDESA document called "Partnerships for Sustainable Develoment" which
> may very well lead to substantial funding for certain restoration
> projects:
> http://webapps01.un.org/dsd/partnerships/public/partnerships/1894.html
>
> In this web page the following statement is included (and note some of
> the extreme statements) : "SIDS (Small Island Developing States)
> fisheries, tourism industries, and protection from rising sea levels,
> increased tropical storm frequency and intensity are heavily dependent
> on healthy coral reefs?and these are the most climatically threatened of
> all ecosystems, due to global warming. SIDS have already lost most of
> their corals, and the rest are imminently endangered by rising global
> temperatures, and most daunting of all, low-lying island nations are
> threatened with extinction by submergence from global sea level rise."
>
> Further on under the heading: Additional Relevant Information - New
> Sustainable Development for SIDS - CORAL REEF AND FISHERIES HABITAT
> RESTORATION "New technology increases the growth rates of corals several
> times faster than normal, greatly increases survival of corals under
> conditions of extreme high temperature stress, and greatly increases the
> buildup of fish and shellfish populations. This allows reefs to be kept
> alive where they would die, and new reefs and fisheries habitat to be
> grown in a few years in places where they cannot recover naturally.
> Because reef fisheries are collapsing due to habitat destruction,
> control of fishing activities cannot restore fisheries without
> large-scale habitat restoration. This restoration process is powered
> using tidal, solar, and wind energy. "
>
> As this information is in the public domain it is imperative that the
> coral reef community is adequately informed of this as a means of
> placing this discussion in a contemporary framework. Again, I apologize
> if any individual is compromised by pointing out this trend - I am just
> the messenger, and am not targeting anyone in particular. But I think it
> is time that the wider coral reef community step up and insist on proper
> scientific review and do not let commercial interests within the
> scientific community drive this assessment of the allocation of critical
> development funding for SIDS in particular.
>
> David Fisk
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 00:27:51 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Dean Jacobson <atolldino at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Coral-List] photoshop trick for sat imagery
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Cc: Don Hess <cmihess at gmail.com>
> Message-ID: <287849.35766.qm at web31803.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Hi listers:
>
> Today I "discovered" a useful way to filter satellite images using
> Photoshop to reveals relatively deep reefs (below 15 meters). (I am
> fortunate to have access to 0.6 m Majuro atoll data for ArcMap). I am
> using Photoshop 6.
>
> Under "images", choose selective color, choose blue, then minimize the
> black slider. Then choose black, and maximize black slider. Another
> iteration may be needed. Then, increase contrast and brightness. To
> avoid blowing out the shallows and land, first save an extra image
> layer, make your adjustments, and then selectively erase the upper
> adjustment layer so the original pixels show through.
>
> The results were pretty remarkable; it was like having "X-ray vision"...
> well-defined deep reefs magically appeared out of the monotonous dark
> blue lagoon water. This will work only if the stat image was taken an a
> calm day; a wave chop seems to obscure the deep features.
>
> I discovered this just in time for my coral monitoring season! I can
> send some example jpgs upon request.
>
> Cheers,
> Dean Jacobson, PhD
> College of the Marshall Islands
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 09:17:42 +0100
> From: "Medio, David" <MedioD at halcrow.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral restoration
> To: "Douglas Fenner" <dfenner at blueskynet.as>
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID:
>
> <A87990669172924FADCAABF1721CB6EC0878E991 at LOND-MX-01.halcrow.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Doug
>
> apologies! It is indeed the Arabian Gulf (Persian to some) I am
> referring to!
>
> David
>
>
> Dr David Medio
> Principal Environmental Scientist
> Halcrow Group Ltd, Arndale Centre, Otley Rd, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 2UL,
> UK
> tel: switchboard +44 (0)113 2208220, direct line: +44 (0)113 220 8253,
> mobile: +44 (0)773 919 0968
> fax: +44 (0)113 274 2924 email: mediod at halcrow.com
> www.halcrow.com
> ________________________________________________________________________
> _______
>
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas Fenner [mailto:dfenner at blueskynet.as]
> Sent: 18 May 2008 00:18
> To: Medio, David
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral restoration
>
> Dave,
> Are you speaking of the Arbian/Persian Gulf? I know its common to
> refer to it as the Gulf in that area. The coral-list has many readers
> that are closer to the Gulf of Mexico, some near the Gulf of California,
> and so on.
> Might be good to specify so no one is left wondering. Thanks! -Doug
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Medio, David" <MedioD at halcrow.com>
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 2:13 AM
> Subject: [Coral-List] Coral restoration
>
>
> >I am involved in a wide range of medium to very large coastal
> developments
> >some of which a priori are known to damage long established reefs in
> the
> >Gulf. Whereas some of the recent artificial reef applications may well
> have
> >had positive results, I am as rule very sceptical on the use of and
> >proliferaion as well as the political clout afforded artificial reef
> >initiatives.
> >
> > Firstly, can we really recreate a reef (as opposed to relocating
> existing
> > bits of a reef) in its complexity, function and extent?
> >
> > Secondly, using man made reefs, if pushed to the limit, as is the case
> in
> > many coastal and offshore developments in the Gulf, will amount
> frequently
> > to giving a green light to using such as a tool to offset large levels
> of
> > multi-layered damage to the marine environment, i.e. more than just
> the
> > coral habitats.
> >
> > Reefs in the Gulf are increasingly being described as far more
> extensive
> > and pristine and species rich than previuosly thought whilst at the
> same
> > coming under the greatest level of pressure ever experienced in the
> > region.
> >
> > The answer for their conservation is cleverly designed engineering,
> robust
> > and well implemented mitigation measures and environmental management
> > plans, improved environmental educational and awareness and improved
> > regulatory frameworks.
> >
> >
> > Dr David Medio
> > Principal Environmental Scientist
> > Halcrow Group Ltd, Arndale Centre, Otley Rd, Headingley, Leeds, LS6
> 2UL,
> > UK
> > tel: switchboard +44 (0)113 2208220, direct line: +44 (0)113 220 8253,
>
> > mobile: +44 (0)773 919 0968
> > fax: +44 (0)113 274 2924 email: mediod at halcrow.com
> > www.halcrow.com
> >
> ________________________________________________________________________
> _______
> >
> > Halcrow Sustaining and improving the quality of people's lives
> >
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ____
> > __
>
>
>
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--
Robert J. Miller
Marine Science Institute
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara CA 93106-6150
(805) 893-7295
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