Catastrophic Decline of a Top Carnivore in the Gulf of California Rocky Intertidal Zone

Abstract

The predatory sun star, Heliaster kubiniji, once the commonest rocky intertidal asteroid of the Gulf of California, has been rare throughout this region since summer 1978 when a devastating disease outbreak occurred. This unprecedented phenomenon and several other exceptional ecological events in marine communities of the northeastern Pacific appear to be linked to large-scale climatic changes that occurred during 1977 and 1978. Implications of the decline in Heliaster kubiniji are discussed.