High population density survival of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum (Philippi, 1845) to a category 5 hurricane in southern Mexican Caribbean

PABLO JORGENSEN; JULIO ESPINOZA-ÁVALOS; HUMBERTO BAHENA-BASAVE

HIDROBIOLóGICA

UNIV AUTONOMA METROPOLITANA-IZTAPALAPA

Año: 2008 vol. 18 p. 257 - 260

0188-8897

The vulnerability of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum to the impact of the category 5 hurricane Dean was assessed at a back-reef area of Mahahual (Southern Mexican Caribbean). Seventy days after Dean, there was a high mean Diadema population density of 12.6 4.3 (SD; from here forward) ind m-2, with a large mean individual test diameter of 59.2 9.8 mm. This population was comparable to a previous report for the same area, just before the landfall of Dean on 21 August 2007. Immigration of adults from deeper fore-reef sites after Dean across the reefcrest was unlikely, considering the homing behavior displayed by tagged urchins. The degree of physical alteration of the habitat indicated that Diadema may survive higher hurricanegenerated disturbances than those reported in previous works. These results have strong implications on the conservation of the Mexican Caribbean coral reefs since the Diadema populations surveyed have a high grazing activity and are persistent against hurricanes impact.