Mass mortality of sea urchin, Salmacis virgulata scattered over the periphery of Dhanushkodi beach, was observed on February 13, 2019. More than 100 numbers of recently dead and dying specimens were found within a 10 m² area on the sandy beach. Beach profiles indicated several hundreds of exoskeletons of previously dead S. virgulata were washed ashore and buried in sand and withering seagrass. The causative agent responsible for mass mortality of S. virgulata is yet to be discovered. However, observations on wave approach toward shore indicated possible evidence that it could be due to a combination of strong nearshore waves and currents. This observation raises a critical research concern to investigate etiology of S. virgulata for species conservation.

中文翻译：

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普通海胆 Salmacis virgulata L. Agassiz 和 Desor，1846 年在印度马纳尔湾泰米尔纳德邦东南海岸 Dhanushkodi 的大规模死亡

2019 年 2 月 13 日，观察到散布在 Dhanushkodi 海滩外围的海胆Salmacis virgulata大量死亡。在沙滩上10 m ^{2 的}区域内发现了 100 多只最近死亡和垂死的标本。海滩剖面图显示，数百具先前死亡的S. virgulata外骨骼被冲上岸，埋在沙子和枯萎的海草中。尚待发现导致S. virgulata大量死亡的病原体。然而，对接近海岸的波浪的观察表明可能的证据表明这可能是由于强近岸波浪和洋流的结合。这一观察结果引起了一个关键的研究关注，以调查病因用于物种保护的S. virgulata。