Abstract
The long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) is a keystone species in coral reef ecosystems, and is considered an important factor in the planning and development of coral reef restoration.1,2 A mass mortality event of D. antillarum in the 1980s left population levels at unrecoverable densities required for this species to maintain its primary ecological role.3,4,5 As a component of coral reef restoration efforts a stock enhancement program is being developed to supplement reduced endemic populations of D. antillarum.6 Health assessment criteria have been developed to qualify cultured long-spined sea urchins for release into the wild.7 These assessment criteria have not yet been utilized in practice, and their validation is needed to determine whether they are appropriate for designating cultured D. antillarum healthy for release. In this study, the health assessment protocol was applied to animals comprising two different data sets: 1) wild and 2) captive. The first was collected during a sampling of wild-caught individuals and retrospectively analyzed and the second was collected from captive animals at three Florida facilities. The wild-caught sea urchin data comprised 189 individuals divided into six batches to be spatiotemporally assessed. The captive sea urchin data collected from 50 individuals was also comprised of six batches that were delineated by animals in the same facility and system. The health assessment protocol as defined in the "Diagnostic Manual for Health Assessment of Diadema antillarum" was applied to each batch of animals, and the overall percentage of individuals qualifying for release was calculated.7 It was expected that all batches assessed would have 90% of the individuals qualify for release, and ten out of the 12 batches assessed fell into this category. Two batches had 50–89% of individuals qualify for release. None of the batches had ≤49% of individuals qualify for release. These results support use of the health assessment criteria as both reasonable and effective for qualifying cultured D. antillarum for release. During results collection, a relationship between increased holding time post-capture and decreased health assessment scoring was noted in data from wild-caught animals in the retrospective analysis. This information may have relevance to handling and husbandry considerations and will be considered for further investigation.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida's Wildlife Legacy Initiative (State Wildlife Grants CFDA No. 15.634) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service grants program, Marine Projects Grant Cycle 2013 T-37 (federal award No. T-F14AF00891). The authors thank John Than from the Florida Aquarium Center for Conservation for his assistance and use of facilities. The authors also thank Tom Nuthall, Gary Violetta, Alyssa Hancock, and Stacy Knight from SeaWorld Orlando for their assistance and use of facilities. Finally, the authors thank Martin Moe for his assistance and use of his Florida Keys research laboratory.
* Presenting author
+ Student presenter
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