On the west seashore of North America ranging from Alaska down to California , starfish are dying at an alarming rate . Beginning in June of 2013 , millions of these echinoderms have kick the bucket due to a disease that causes their pegleg to fall off and their inner organs to fall into the water . This disease is affecting waste sea star as well as those kept in captivity , and the worst part is that nobody get laid what it causing it . The disease is tentatively called “ Starfish Wasting Syndrome . ” This announcement comes from Jonathan Sleeman , director of theUS Geological Survey ’s National Wildlife Health Center .
Starfish first emerged 450 million years ago in the Ordovician , around the same metre that shark first appeared . They have a magnanimous shock on marine ecosystems ranging from icy polar water to warm tropical reef by keeping populations of mussel , snails , and barnacles in stoppage . The sea star has been call a “ keystone coinage ” because it only read a few starfish to make an incredible impact on their environment .
Though there are about 1,500 know species of starfish alive today , there are two coinage peculiarly impacted by this deadly disease : the purple sea star ( Pisaster ochraceus ) and the sunflower sea star ( Pycnopodia helianthoides ) . Though these specie are typically able to regenerate weapon that are lose due to trauma , this disease works much too quickly for the starfish to recover .
At theonset of infection , the blazon break out in blank lesion . In very short order , the lesion circulate and causes the arms to bend and ultimately break off . Not only do the limb come away , but the eubstance of the starfish also lose its integrity and releases its privileged organ , kill the being . It only takes a few 24-hour interval for the animal to pall after the first sign of the zodiac of disease . There is a 95 % mortality rate for those who get infect .
Though starfish are exceedingly susceptible to changes in urine temperature and thawing waters due to climate fluctuations can kill pocket-sized population , nothing has ever been see on this scale before . former die - offs had an obvious cause and affected only a fraction of what has been lose since last summer .
The same disease that is stump marine life scientist on the west coast also affected a small universe of starfish on the east coast last year . Thankfully , the encroachment was minimal and did not spread up and down the coastline .
presently , investigator are analyzing sample in the lab for ascertain the cause , include if it is triggered by pollutant in the water or an transmission from a microorganism . Some mull over that the latter is most probable , and this could be the handiwork of a parasite or virus .
