Wrasse and starfish gang up on sea urchins

SEA urchins beware: you are under attack from two sides. Wrasse and starfish are both partial to sea urchin, but struggle to catch it on their own. So they give each other a helping hand to tackle their common prey.

Ornate wrasse, Thalassoma pavo, like to eat the tube feet of sea urchins, but as the urchins keep their feet buried in the sea bed the wrasse can't get to them easily. Marthasterias glacialis, a starfish, also likes sea urchin but isn't always fast enough to catch them.

Nicola Galasso of Tuscia University in Viterbo, Italy, and colleagues have found that the two help each other out. When a sea urchin is attacked by a starfish, it uproots itself and moves away. That exposes its tube foot, so a lurking wrasse can sweep in for a meal. The wrasse's feast disables the sea urchin, allowing the starfish to catch it and finish the job.

The two predators don't seem to be truly cooperating as neither makes a sacrifice for the other. But their actions nevertheless benefit each other. It is further evidence that wrasse are intelligent and can adapt their foraging methods, says Galasso, who presented her research last week at the summer conference of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour in St Andrews, UK. She has also found that ornate wrasse have learned to follow scuba divers, as they often break open sea urchins to attract fish.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128284.300-wrasse-and-starfish-gang-up-on-sea-urchins.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Could starfish inspire new cure for inflammation?

Lurking in the seas of Scotland is an unlikely candidate for a medical breakthrough.

But scientists believe the starfish could hold the key to finding a new treatment for inflammatory conditions such as asthma, hay fever and arthritis.

The species they are interested in is the spiny starfish (Marthasterias glacialis), and in particular the slimy goo that covers its body.

The team says that chemicals in this coating could inspire new medicines.

While most man-made structures that are placed in the water rapidly get caked with a mixture of marine life, starfish manage to keep their surface clear.

Dr Charlie Bavington, from GlycoMar, a marine biotechnology company based at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, explained: "Starfish live in the sea, and are bathed in a solution of bacteria, larvae, viruses and all sorts of things that are looking for somewhere to live.

"But starfish are better than Teflon: they have a very efficient anti-fouling surface that prevents things from sticking."

And it is this non-stick property that has grabbed medical scientists' attention, particularly in the field of inflammation.

Sticky problem
Inflammation is the body's natural response to an injury or infection, but inflammatory conditions are caused when the immune system begins to rage out of control.

White blood cells, which normally flow easily through our blood vessels, begin to build up and stick to the blood vessel wall, and this can cause tissue damage.

The idea is that a treatment based on starfish slime could effectively coat our blood vessels in the same way the goo covers the marine creature, and prevent this problem.

Dr Bavington said: "It is a very similar situation to something sticking to a starfish in the sea.

"These cells have to stick from a flowing medium to a blood vessel wall, so we thought we could learn something from how starfish prevent this so we could find a way to prevent this in humans."

While many inflammatory conditions can be effectively treated, for example with steroids, these drugs can often cause unwanted side effects.

But scientists at King's College London (KCL) think starfish could offer a better solution, and they have been analysing the chemicals in the creature's non-stick slime.

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at KCL, said: "The starfish have effectively done a lot of the hard work for us.

"Normally when you are trying to find a new drug to go after a particular target in human beings, you have to screen hundreds of molecules to find something that will give you a lead.

"The starfish is effectively providing us with something that is giving is different leads: it has had billions of years in evolution to come up with molecules that do specific things."

Having identified promising compounds, the team is now working on creating their own versions of them in the laboratory. They want to create a treatment that is inspired by starfish goo rather than one that is made from it.

Professor Page said: "Conceptually we know this is the right approach.

"It's not going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but we are learning all the time from nature about how to find new medicines."

Underwater pharmacy
While the starfish-based cure might be some years off, the race to explore the oceans for its medical potential is only just beginning.

A sea snail has already formed the basis of a new painkiller, and scientists are starting to look at a whole range of marine life, from sea cucumbers to seaweed.

Dr David Hughes, an ecologist from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, explained: "Some of the most widespread, widely used medicines come from nature.

"Penicillin is a mould that grows on bread, aspirin comes from willow trees, so it's not too surprising turning to nature to find useful drugs. But we've only very recently begun to look to the sea for a useful source of
medicines."

And with the oceans covering nearly three quarters of the Earth's surface, scientists have likened the deep to an untapped underwater pharmacy.

Dr Hughes told the BBC: "There is such a huge diversity of animals and plants living in the oceans and very few of them have been tested and investigated in any way.

"We know marine animals and plants produce a huge range of compounds, sometimes very different compounds from those produced by animals and plants on land.

"So many might have useful properties that could be brought into medicine and other medicinal applications."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11931039

Could starfish inspire new cure for inflammation?

Lurking in the seas of Scotland is an unlikely candidate for a medical breakthrough.

But scientists believe the starfish could hold the key to finding a new treatment for inflammatory conditions such as asthma, hay fever and arthritis.

The species they are interested in is the spiny starfish (Marthasterias glacialis), and in particular the slimy goo that covers its body.

The team says that chemicals in this coating could inspire new medicines.

While most man-made structures that are placed in the water rapidly get caked with a mixture of marine life, starfish manage to keep their surface clear.

Dr Charlie Bavington, from GlycoMar, a marine biotechnology company based at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, explained: "Starfish live in the sea, and are bathed in a solution of bacteria, larvae, viruses and all sorts of things that are looking for somewhere to live.

"But starfish are better than Teflon: they have a very efficient anti-fouling surface that prevents things from sticking."

And it is this non-stick property that has grabbed medical scientists' attention, particularly in the field of inflammation.

Sticky problem
Inflammation is the body's natural response to an injury or infection, but inflammatory conditions are caused when the immune system begins to rage out of control.

White blood cells, which normally flow easily through our blood vessels, begin to build up and stick to the blood vessel wall, and this can cause tissue damage.

The idea is that a treatment based on starfish slime could effectively coat our blood vessels in the same way the goo covers the marine creature, and prevent this problem.

Dr Bavington said: "It is a very similar situation to something sticking to a starfish in the sea.

"These cells have to stick from a flowing medium to a blood vessel wall, so we thought we could learn something from how starfish prevent this so we could find a way to prevent this in humans."

While many inflammatory conditions can be effectively treated, for example with steroids, these drugs can often cause unwanted side effects.

But scientists at King's College London (KCL) think starfish could offer a better solution, and they have been analysing the chemicals in the creature's non-stick slime.

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at KCL, said: "The starfish have effectively done a lot of the hard work for us.

"Normally when you are trying to find a new drug to go after a particular target in human beings, you have to screen hundreds of molecules to find something that will give you a lead.

"The starfish is effectively providing us with something that is giving is different leads: it has had billions of years in evolution to come up with molecules that do specific things."

Having identified promising compounds, the team is now working on creating their own versions of them in the laboratory. They want to create a treatment that is inspired by starfish goo rather than one that is made from it.

Professor Page said: "Conceptually we know this is the right approach.

"It's not going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but we are learning all the time from nature about how to find new medicines."

Underwater pharmacy
While the starfish-based cure might be some years off, the race to explore the oceans for its medical potential is only just beginning.

A sea snail has already formed the basis of a new painkiller, and scientists are starting to look at a whole range of marine life, from sea cucumbers to seaweed.

Dr David Hughes, an ecologist from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, explained: "Some of the most widespread, widely used medicines come from nature.

"Penicillin is a mould that grows on bread, aspirin comes from willow trees, so it's not too surprising turning to nature to find useful drugs. But we've only very recently begun to look to the sea for a useful source of
medicines."

And with the oceans covering nearly three quarters of the Earth's surface, scientists have likened the deep to an untapped underwater pharmacy.

Dr Hughes told the BBC: "There is such a huge diversity of animals and plants living in the oceans and very few of them have been tested and investigated in any way.

"We know marine animals and plants produce a huge range of compounds, sometimes very different compounds from those produced by animals and plants on land.

"So many might have useful properties that could be brought into medicine and other medicinal applications."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11931039

'Starfish Graveyard' In Norfolk After Storm

Click to enlarge

Metro, 9 December 2009, p14.

Also:

Wednesday December 09, 2009
Neal Walker, Sky News Online

More than 10,000 starfish have died after being washed on to a beach along the Norfolk coast during a storm.

The creatures are thought to have gathered in the shallows to feed on mussels, before being swept ashore during high tide.

Nigel Croasdale, from Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary, told The Times the starfish would have only survived for a few hours without water.

"This type of thing may happen once a year, depending on the weather," he said.

"When the tide returns, the bodies are usually washed back into the sea."

A local resident described the scene on the beach as "a starfish graveyard".

Starfish feed by pushing their mouths out of their stomachs and digesting other sea creatures using enzymes.

If they lose one of their five arms they have the ability to grow it back.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Starfish-More-Than-10000-Starfish-Die-After-Being-Washed-On-To-Beach-In-Norfolk/Article/200912215496474?f=rss

'Starfish Graveyard' In Norfolk After Storm

Click to enlarge

Metro, 9 December 2009, p14.

Also:

Wednesday December 09, 2009
Neal Walker, Sky News Online

More than 10,000 starfish have died after being washed on to a beach along the Norfolk coast during a storm.

The creatures are thought to have gathered in the shallows to feed on mussels, before being swept ashore during high tide.

Nigel Croasdale, from Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary, told The Times the starfish would have only survived for a few hours without water.

"This type of thing may happen once a year, depending on the weather," he said.

"When the tide returns, the bodies are usually washed back into the sea."

A local resident described the scene on the beach as "a starfish graveyard".

Starfish feed by pushing their mouths out of their stomachs and digesting other sea creatures using enzymes.

If they lose one of their five arms they have the ability to grow it back.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Starfish-More-Than-10000-Starfish-Die-After-Being-Washed-On-To-Beach-In-Norfolk/Article/200912215496474?f=rss

50,000 dead starfish found on Irish beach

Friday, 6 November 2009

Extreme weather conditions have killed tens of thousands of starfish and left them strewn across a sheltered beach.

A carpet of pink and mauve echinoderms, a family of marine animals, appeared yesterday morning on Lissadell Beach in north Co Sligo.

The adult starfish, measuring between 7cm and 20cm in diameter and estimated to be up to 50,000 in number, stretched along 150 metres of the strand.

Marine biologist and lecturer at Sligo Institute of Technology Bill Crowe speculated that they had been lifted up by a storm while feeding on mussel beds off shore.

"The most likely explanation is that they were feeding on mussels but it is a little strange that none of them were attached to mussels when they were washed in," he said.

He added that if they had died as a result of a so-called 'red tide' or algal bloom, other sealife would have been washed ashore with them.

"These were almost all adult size and the typical starfish variety that is found in the North Atlantic but there was nothing else mixed in with them," he said.

Surveying the unusual scene, he placed some in a bucket of seawater to test whether they were alive, but while this prompted a slight response from one or two of the creatures, the vast majority were dead.

Tim Roderick, District Conservation Officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, agreed the phenomenon was most likely caused by recent bad weather.

"They turned up almost certainly as a result of an exceptional storm event.

"A storm hit the seabed where these sub-tidal animals were and lifted them up and washed them ashore," he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government said that investigations were continuing into how they came to be washed ashore but initial indications pointed to the stormy weather, which has been a feature in the north-west in recent days.

In a similar episode earlier this year, thousands of dead starfish washed ashore on Youghal Beach in Co Cork.

Scientists speculated that they, too, had been thrown on to the beach by an underflow, which was probably caused by a storm at sea.

Source Irish Independent

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/50000-dead-starfish-found-on-irish-beach-14554962.html#ixzz0W5OEynW0

(Submitted by Joe McNally)

See also: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/mystery-as-50000-dead-starfish-wash-ashore-in-Ireland-69372667.html

50,000 dead starfish found on Irish beach

Friday, 6 November 2009

Extreme weather conditions have killed tens of thousands of starfish and left them strewn across a sheltered beach.

A carpet of pink and mauve echinoderms, a family of marine animals, appeared yesterday morning on Lissadell Beach in north Co Sligo.

The adult starfish, measuring between 7cm and 20cm in diameter and estimated to be up to 50,000 in number, stretched along 150 metres of the strand.

Marine biologist and lecturer at Sligo Institute of Technology Bill Crowe speculated that they had been lifted up by a storm while feeding on mussel beds off shore.

"The most likely explanation is that they were feeding on mussels but it is a little strange that none of them were attached to mussels when they were washed in," he said.

He added that if they had died as a result of a so-called 'red tide' or algal bloom, other sealife would have been washed ashore with them.

"These were almost all adult size and the typical starfish variety that is found in the North Atlantic but there was nothing else mixed in with them," he said.

Surveying the unusual scene, he placed some in a bucket of seawater to test whether they were alive, but while this prompted a slight response from one or two of the creatures, the vast majority were dead.

Tim Roderick, District Conservation Officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, agreed the phenomenon was most likely caused by recent bad weather.

"They turned up almost certainly as a result of an exceptional storm event.

"A storm hit the seabed where these sub-tidal animals were and lifted them up and washed them ashore," he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government said that investigations were continuing into how they came to be washed ashore but initial indications pointed to the stormy weather, which has been a feature in the north-west in recent days.

In a similar episode earlier this year, thousands of dead starfish washed ashore on Youghal Beach in Co Cork.

Scientists speculated that they, too, had been thrown on to the beach by an underflow, which was probably caused by a storm at sea.

Source Irish Independent

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/50000-dead-starfish-found-on-irish-beach-14554962.html#ixzz0W5OEynW0

(Submitted by Joe McNally)

See also: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/mystery-as-50000-dead-starfish-wash-ashore-in-Ireland-69372667.html