Martin Moe Cracks the Urchin Code

From his home-based marine breeding lab, biologist and author Martin Moe has shared with us the extraordinary first-published image of a captive-bred juvenile sea urchin, Diadema antillarum.

After many failures and frustrations, Martin has finally brought his first hatch of Diadema through metamorphosis.

This species is more than a mere curiosity or potential subject for Caribbean biotope aquariums.  Wiped out throughout much of its range three decades ago, Diadema antillarum has been sorely missed.  It is an important herbivore on coral reefs in the western tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, where it helps keep macroalgae growth in check.

If Martin's breakthrough in developing captive spawning, settlement, and rearing protocols is able to be ramped up for large-scale propagation, the urchins might be successfully re-introduced to areas in need of the return of a very effective herbivore.

Read Martin's own preliminary account here:

Cracking_the_Diadema_Code

We hope to publish a full article on the story in a future issue of CORAL.

Image at top: 73-day-old Diadema antillarum juvenile on a rubber band. Inset: Moe collecting broodstock that was used in his research. Images courtesy Martin A. Moe, Jr.