A new study has found that the devastating sea star wasting disease is caused by a strain of bacteria from Vibrio pectenicida, which turns the marine creatures into goo.

Experiments identify a bacterium as the cause of sea-star wasting disease, which has devastated populations along the western coast of North America.

A team featuring Canadian scientists has, after years of testing, determined the cause of the devastating sea star wasting disease. The culprit is a bacterial pathogen called vibrio pectenicida, and has brought sunflower sea star populations on North America’s west coast to critically endangered status.