Not another Pandemic! The first records of sea star wasting disease in
European Waters
Abstract
Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) refers to a suite of clinical signs
observed in Asteroidea species, presents to varying degrees as abnormal
posture, epidermal ulceration, arm autotomy, and eversion of viscera. We
present observations of SSWD in the sunstar Crossaster papposus,
the first observations of its kind in European waters. With rapid
environmental flux as a proposed trigger for this condition, increasing
frequency of temperature fluxes may lead to increasing prevalence of
SSWD, and have wide reaching ecological and management implications.