Data on blood cells of the collector urchin, Tripneustes gratilla

Echinoderms such as urchins are important in marine ecosystems, particularly as grazers, and unhealthy urchins can have important ecological implications. For instance, unexplained mortalities of Diadema sp. in the Caribbean were followed by algal overgrowth and subsequent collapse of coral reef ecosystems. Unfortunately few tools exist to evaluate echinoderm health making management of mortalities or other health issues problematic. Hematology is often used to assess animal health in many animal groups including invertebrates but is seldom applied to echninoderms. We used a standard gravitometric technique to concentrate fixed ceolomocytes from the collector urchin Tripneustes gratilla onto microscope slides permitting...

Categories: Data; Tags: Oahu, Tripneustes gratilla, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, biota, All tags... coelomocytes, echinoderms, electron microscopy, hematology, lectins, light microscopy, Fewer tags