ISTANBUL

A newly emerging marine pandemic is pushing several sea urchin species toward extinction, with some regional populations wiped out entirely, according to new research.

Scientist say an unidentified disease has devastated Diadema africanum urchins across the Canary Islands since 2021, causing an almost complete collapse of the species. Populations in Tenerife have plunged by 99.7%, while numbers around Portugal’s Madeira archipelago have fallen by 90%, the study titled "Insights on the last sea urchin" found.

In the same period, researchers have recorded mass die-offs among urchin species in the Red Sea, Mediterranean, Caribbean and western Indian Ocean.

Ivan Cano, a researcher at the University of La Laguna and author of the study, told the Guardian that the scale of losses is alarming. “What we have seen since 2021 is really, really concerning. We are talking about the disappearance of several species in a really short time,” he said.

Sea urchins, close relatives of starfish, breathe through their tube feet and use their spines both as protection and as shelter for smaller marine species.

As key “ecosystem engineers,” they regulate algae, break down organic matter and provide food for predators. Their decline has already reshaped Caribbean reefs, where coral cover has halved and algae has surged by 85%.

Cano said his initial interest in the species stemmed from their ability to reshape their surroundings. “What fascinated me in the first place about this species is that they change their environment. Like humans, when they are present, they modify their habitat,” he said, adding that the wider ecological impacts remain uncertain.

He said the wider impacts are currently unknown.

Scientists have yet to determine the exact cause of the pandemic, though Cano said humans were “probably involved” in spreading the disease. Proposed explanations for its transmission include ship traffic, shifting ocean currents and unusual wave patterns.