Bald sea urchin disease is a

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

known to affect several species of sea urchins in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, North Atlantic and along the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

coastline. Research suggests two pathogens are responsible for the disease, '' Listonella anguillarum'' and ''

Aeromonas salmonicida ''Aeromonas salmonicida'' is a pathogenic bacterium that severely impacts salmonid populations and other species. It was first discovered in a Bavarian brown trout hatchery by Emmerich and Weibel in 1894. ''Aeromonas salmonicida's'' ability to in ...

''. Infection generally occurs at the site of an existing physical injury. The affected area turns green and spines and other appendages are lost. If the lesion remains shallow and covers less than 30% of the animal's surface area, the animal tends to survive and eventually regenerates any lost tissue. However, if the damage is more extensive or so deep that the hard inner

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

is perforated, the disease is fatal.

Affected species

* '' Allocentrotus fragilis'' * '' Arbacia lixula'' * '' Cidaris cidaris'' * '' Echinus esculentus'' * ''

Paracentrotus lividus ''Paracentrotus lividus'' is a species of sea urchin in the family Parechinidae commonly known as the purple sea urchin. It is the type species of the genus and occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. Description ''Paracent ...

'' * '' Psammechinus miliaris'' * ''

Sphaerechinus granularis ''Sphaerechinus granularis'' is a species of sea urchin in the family Toxopneustidae, commonly known as the violet sea urchin, or sometimes the purple sea urchin (though the latter is also a common name for a Pacific sea urchin ''Strongylocentr ...

'' * ''

Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis ''Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis'' is commonly known as the green sea urchin because of its characteristic green color. It is commonly found in northern waters all around the world including both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to a northerly ...

'' * '' Strongylocentrotus franciscanus'' * ''

Strongylocentrotus purpuratus ''Strongylocentrotus purpuratus'', the purple sea urchin, lives along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean extending from Ensenada, Mexico, to British Columbia, Canada. This sea urchin species is deep purple in color, and lives in lower int ...

References

* Animal bacterial diseases Echinoidea {{echinoidea-stub