10.5061/DRYAD.ZGMSBCCF7
Smith, Samuel
0000-0003-4778-3105
Queen's University Belfast
Hewson, Ian
Cornell University
Collins, Patrick
Queen's University Belfast
The first records of Sea Star Wasting Disease in Crossaster papposus in Europe
Dryad
dataset
2022
Sea Star Wasting Disease
Crossaster papposus
Asteroidea
FOS: Biological sciences
Northern Ireland Department for the Economy*
2022-07-13T00:00:00Z
2022-07-13T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0197
3365 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of gross pathological
signs observed in Asteroidea species. It presents to varying degrees as
abnormal posture, epidermal ulceration, arm autotomy and eversion of
viscera. We report observations of SSWD in the sunstar Crossaster
papposus, the first observations of its kind in Europe. While the exact
cause of SSWD remains unknown, studies have proposed pathogenic and
environmental-stress pathways for disease outbreaks. Although the present
observations do not support a precise aetiology, the presence of SSWD in a
keystone predator may have wide reaching ecological and management
implications.
Specimens of C. papposus (n = 12) were collected on an ad hoc basis from
crab creels from around 20–25 m depth in the Irish Sea and returned to
holding tanks at Queen's University Belfast Marine Laboratory,
Portaferry in March 2022. Observations were conducted each day until day
31 after capture. Mortality resulting from disease progression was
recorded, with survival time measured in days since capture. A
Kaplan–Meier survival curve produced for the month-long observation period
based on time-to-death. The data was processed using R version 4.1.2
Data was processed using R version 4.1.2