The effects that diet, salinity and temperature contribute to Seastar Wasting Disease in Pycnopodia helianthoides and field surveying Pisaster ochraceus
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Date
2014-06-30Author
White, Trevor
Dethier, Megan
Eisenlord, Morgan
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This study investigated Seastar Wasting Disease (SWD) in both Pycnopodia
helianthoides and Pisaster ochraceus, involving field surveying, diet, temperature and
salinity experiments. SWD describes a set of symptoms that has been seen in sea stars
and it is most easily recognized by the presence of white lesions, tissue deterioration and
eventually death. The pathogen and disease mechanism is still poorly understood and
there have been scattered incidences of SWD reported for the last 50 years, however the
current epizooitic has persisted for nearly a year, and has afflicted sea stars on over 3000
miles of coastline. Our study showed that increasing water temperature and decreasing
salinity both independently correlate with increasing rates of symptoms appearing on
Pycnopodia helianthoides. Field surveying of Pisaster displayed a strong correlation
between temperature at the field site and percentage of sea stars showing lesions.
Prevalence of SWD increases with seasonally warming temperatures and it is imperative
to explore the mechanisms of this relationship and what ecological implications this
entails.