A mysterious sea urchin plague has spread across the world, causing the near extinction of the creature in some areas and threatening delicate coral reef ecosystems, a new study suggests.
The research, published in the scientific journal Current Biology, found populations of two sea urchin species – the long-spined Diadema setosum and the banded-spiny Echinothrix calamaris – may have been completely wiped out in some parts of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Western Indian Ocean.
