title: 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.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Dungan
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Thomson