The Very Hungry Urchins
August 05, 2024 at 11:06PMMeet the long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum). These pointy, unsung heroes are being bred by scientists in a bid to control algae that would otherwise threaten Caribbean coral ecosystems.
South of Tampa Bay, Florida, wedged between a quiet neighborhood and a mangrove forest, custom-designed aquariums are home to thousands of sea urchin larvae that tumble and drift through the water. Scientists with The Florida Aquarium and the University of Florida care for the little urchins, checking them daily under microscopes for signs that they’re maturing into juveniles, which look like miniature versions of the adults. Few will make it. For every one million embryos conceived in the lab, only about 100,000 become larvae. Of those, only up to 2,000 become adults.
And at this particular moment, coral reefs in the Caribbean need all the urchins they can get.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/08/05/the-very-hungry-urchins/
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