Predation of the sea urchinDiadema antillarumPhilippi on living coral

✍ Scribed by Rolf P. M. Bak; Guillaume Eys

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1975
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 846 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0029-8549
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00369023

✦ Synopsis

On the coral reefs of Curaçao and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles) the sea urchin Diadema antillarum is a major coral predator. In areas with high coral cover, up to 8.2% of the Diadema population (with a density of 8.5 animals/m) was feeding on living coral surfaces at night. Acropora species are the most heavily attacked corals.