8 SCAVENGER HUNT
LONG-SPINED SEA URCHIN DIADEMA ANTILLARUM
CONSERVATION STATUS: Not Evaluated DESCRIPTION: An integral part of rocky outcrops and coral reefs, this grazing herbivore provides critical services on the reef by creating space for coral to grow by removing algae that is competitively superior to corals. In the 1980s this species experienced a mass mortality that saw its entire Caribbean population almost completely wiped out!The environmental response to this event was a significant loss of coral biomass with increases in algal-dominated reefs, further highlighting their importance as mediators of coral growth and success in tropical ecosystems.