Ecological Importance
Diadema antillarum is still, in some areas, one of the most abundant, widespread, and ecologically-important shallow-water genera of tropical sea urchins. It is found in the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the northern and eastern coasts of South America (as far south as Brazil). It is also found in the East Atlantic at the Canary Islands. This species is ecologically important because it consumes algae that can otherwise grow to such an extent that they can smother coral reefs. They live in holes that are in the reef.
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