[Coral-List] Fw: ADMAT - Sea Urchins eating iron cannons and granite blocks...

[marcos gektidis]

Thanks guys, 

I waited for this thread for exactly 25 years - the year of my diploma work on endogenous rhythms of paracentrotus lividus (unpublished and in german).

Yep, they bore and, quite interestingly, they do it under the influence of a pronounced circadian rhythm (with a strong lunar component, as every fisherman in the mediterranean can tell you). So any experiments on sea-urchin behavior should take their activity rhythms (and thereby significant changes in metabolism over the day) into account.

Some sea-urchins - as p. lividus, use their boring behavior to excavate a "homezone". When night comes, they crawl out and start grazing around this zone. The teeth of their laterna magica are very very hard and publications on these critters destroying underwater cables and stuff is actually quite spread or was 25 years ago..

If this is of any interest, I could excavate (probably on a nightshift as well) my old diploma-thesis and extract some literature. Please contact me off-list for this.

Cheers,

Marcos

info at gektidis.de


dr. marcos gektidis

wittelsbacheralle 195
60385 frankfurt am main
germany