Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:46:11.955Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Temperature induced disease in the starfish Astropecten jonstoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2009

Annette Staehli ,
Rolf Schaerer ,
Katharina Hoelzle  and
Georg Ribi
Annette Staehli*
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Rolf Schaerer
Affiliation:
ISME St Gallen, Bruehlgasse 18, 9004 St.Gallen, Switzerland
Katharina Hoelzle
Affiliation:
Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 270, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Georg Ribi
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Annette Staehli, Zoological Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland email: annettestaehli@access.unizh.ch
Get access

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the effects of water temperature changes on the structure of marine populations. During the 1970s the burrowing starfish Astropecten jonston was present in large numbers along the south-east of Sardinia (Italy). When investigations were resumed in 1999 fewer active individuals could be found than in the 1970s, with anecdotal evidence suggesting an increase in sightings of dying animals on the sand surface. These observations, combined with a hitherto unknown susceptibility to handling stress, caused us to investigate the effect of water temperature, salinity and individual size on A. jonstoni survival. Results indicated that significantly fewer starfish were affected by a wasting disease when kept at 12°C compared with individuals maintained at 20°C and 25°C regardless of salinity (28 or 35 ppt) and that smaller starfish were less affected. Microbiological analysis revealed that, amongst other species, bacteria of the genus Vibrio, which have been associated with diseases of stressed marine invertebrates, were present in both field and laboratory animals.

Keywords

starfishwater temperaturediseasebacteria
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e78
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baulch, H.M., Schindler, D.W., Turner, M.A., Findlay, D.L. and Paterson, M.J. (2005) Effects of warming on benthic communities in a boreal lake: implications of climate change. Limnology and Oceanography 50, 1377–1392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, P., Gillan, D., Lanterbecq, D., Jangoux, M., Rasolofonirina, R., Rakotovao, J. and Eeckhaut, I. (2004) The skin ulceration disease in cultivated juveniles of Holothuria scabra (Holothuroidea, Echinodermata). Aquaculture 242, 13–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyett, H.V., Bourne, D.G. and Willis, L.B. (2007) Elevated temperature and light enhance progression and spread of black band disease on staghorn corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Biology 151, 1711–1720.Google Scholar
Bruno, J.F., Selig, E.R., Casey, K.S., Page, C.A., Willis, B.L., Harvell, C.D., Sweatman, H. and Melendy, A.M. (2007) Thermal stress and coral cover as drivers of coral disease outbreaks. PLoS Biology 5, 1220–1227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chomsky, O., Kamenir, Y., Hyams, M., Dubinsky, Z. and Chadwick-Furman, N.E. (2004) Effects of temperature on growth rate and body size in the Mediterranean Sea anemone Actinia equine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 313, 63–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckert, G.L., Engle, J.M. and Kushner, D.J. (2000) Sea star disease and population declines at the Channel Islands. In Browne, D.R. et al. (eds) Proceedings of the fifth California Islands symposium. US Minerals Management Service, pp. 390–393.Google Scholar
Farto, R., Armada, S.P., Montes, M., Guisande, J.A., Perez, M.J. and Nieto, T.P. (2003) Vibrio lentus associated with diseased wild octopus (Octopus vulgaris). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 83, 149–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferlin-Lubini, V. and Ribi, G. (1978) Daily activity pattern of Astropecten aranciacus (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) and two related species under natural conditions. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchung 31, 117–127.Google Scholar
Harvell, C.D., Mitchell, C.E., Ward, J.R., Altizer, S., Dobson, A.P., Ostfeld, R.S. and Samuel, M.D. (2002) Climate warming and disease risks for terrestrial and marine biota. Science 296, 2158–2162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaspar, C.W. and Tamplin, M.L. (1993) Effects of temperature and salinity on the survival of Vibrio vulnificus in seawater and shellfish. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 59, 2425–2429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kushmaro, A., Banin, E., Stackebrandt, E. and Rosenberg, E. (2001) Vibrio shiloi sp. nov.: the causative agent of bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica. International Journal of Systematic Evolutionary Microbiology 51, 1338–1388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, A.J. and Soame, J.M. (2004) The effect of climate change on the reproduction of coastal invertebrates. Ibis 146, 29–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mouritsen, K.N. and Poulin, R. (2002) Parasitism, climate oscillations and the structure of natural communities. Oikos 97, 462–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez, T., Garrabou, J., Sartoretto, S., Harmelin, J.G., Francour, P. and Vacelet, J. (2000) Mortalité massive d'invertébrés marins: un événement sans précédent en Méditerranée nord-occidentale. Life Science 323, 853–865.Google Scholar
Pfeffer, C.S., Hite, M.F. and Oliver, J.D. (2003) Ecology of Vibrio vulnificus in estuarine waters of eastern North Carolina. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 698, 3526–3531.Google Scholar
Remily, E.R. and Richardson, L.L. (2006) Ecological physiology of a coral pathogen and the coral reef environment. Microbial Ecology 51, 345–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ribi, G., Burla, H. and Ochsner, P. (1976) Beobachtungen über Vorkommen, Abundanz und Körpergrössen von mediterranen Arten der Gattung Astropecten. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 28, 415–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabaté, A., Martin, P., Lloret, J. and Raya, V. (2006) Sea warming and fish distribution: the case of the small pelagic fish, Sardinella aurita, in the western Mediterranean. Global Change Biology 12, 2209–2219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salat, J. and Pascual, J. (2002) The oceanographic and meteorological station at l'Estartit (NW Mediterranean) In Tracking long-term hydrological change in the Mediterranean Sea. CIESM Workshop Series 16, 29–32.Google Scholar
Stenseth, N.C., Mysterud, A., Ottersen, G., Hurrell, J.W., Chan, K.S. and Lima, M. (2002) Ecological effects of climate fluctuations. Science 297, 1292–1296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward, J.R., Kim, K. and Harvell, C.D. (2007) Temperature affects coral disease resistance and pathogen growth. Marine Ecology Progress Series 329, 115–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, N.S. (2007) Sponge disease: a global threat? Environmental Microbiology 9, 1363–1375.Google Scholar