Researchers looking for cause of starfish deaths
Researchers looking for cause of starfish deaths
By Associated Press, Published: February 9
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Starfish at the Anchorage Museum have shown signs of a wasting disease reported up and down the West Coast, and eight had to be euthanized last fall.
The creatures are dying of sea star wasting syndrome, an affliction that causes white lesions to develop on the starfish’s skin and an unnatural twisting of the arms, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The starfish die after losing their arms and their tissues soften.
Marine scientists say the disease is killing massive numbers of starfish colonies up and down the West Coast, and it has been observed as far south as San Diego.
Scientists don’t know how many of the tens of millions of starfish along the coast have the disease.
Pete Raimondi, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, told the newspaper it may be in the tens of thousands to the low millions. The symptoms appear to be highly present among starfish in captivity, he added.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/researchers-looking-for-cause-of-starfish-deaths/2014/02/09/1fabc6d0-91d6-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html