Scientists Identify Vibrio Pectenicida Strain as Killer of 5 Billion Sea Stars

Sea Star Wasting Disease Symptoms

• 😔 Healthy sea stars typically have puffy, straight arms, while sick ones exhibit arms curling back, lesions, and arm detachment.
• ⚠️ The disease has particularly impacted sunflower stars, which are now listed as critically endangered.

Devastating Population Decline

• 📉 A decade-long epidemic on the west coast of North America has led to the loss of over 90% of sea star populations from Mexico to Alaska.
• 💥 This equates to a loss of more than 5 billion sea stars.

Identification of the Pathogen

• 🔬 US scientists have identified a novel strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as the cause of the sea star deaths.
• 🧬 While the species Vibrio pectenicida was previously identified in France in the early '90s, affecting scallop farms, this is a new genetic variant causing disease in sea stars on the west coast.