The diadem sea urchin, once seen as a serious threat to Canarian underwater ecosystems, is “on the verge of extinction”, according to a study reported in today’s Guardian.
The study, carried out by Ivan Cano and a team at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, claims that, since 2021, Canarian populations of diadem urchins have been almost completely wiped out by an unknown disease.
The diadem urchin, with its long, black spines, has been a familiar sight to divers off Canarian coasts for decades. Until fairly recently it was thought to be an invasive species, stripping rocky sea beds of algae and threatening established ecosystems as a result. However, fossil records have shown that the urchin has been present in Canarian waters for millennia.
The study claims that diadem populations in Tenerife have fallen by 99.7%, and similar results have been observed on the other islands. 20 dive centres on Lanzarote contributed to the data.
Cano says that the cause of the pandemic is unknown, but humans are “probably involved”.
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