56th European Marine Biology Symposium

Description

Elevated temperatures linked to Sea Star Wasting Disease in a Keystone European Species, Asterias rubens

Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of gross signs affecting Asteroidea species. It presents as abnormal body appearance, including epidermal lesions, everted viscera, arm autotomy, and may progress to full body disintegration and mortality. The common sea star Asterias rubens is a keystone species in the coastal Northeast Atlantic and is understood to be susceptible to the disease. SSWD outbreaks have been connected with increases in sea temperature; in the face of global climate change further investigation into this connection is increasingly important. We exposed individual sea stars to elevated temperature (18°C) and a control treatment (12°C) under laboratory conditions for a 14-day period. We measured the presence of disease signs associated with SSWD, the progression of signs over the observation period, and survival of individuals. The elevated temperature treatment induced a greater number of signs of SSWD, and was the only treatment in which individuals died (n=4). Further, it was found that size had a significant effect on the presence of disease signs, with larger individuals more likely to present increased disease signs. This experiment provides evidence that SSWD is a temperature-sensitive phenomenon.

Period	06 Sept 2023
Event type	Conference
Conference number	56
Location	Reykjavik, IcelandShow on map