Prior to the region-wide die-off in 1983, the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, was a key herbivore on Florida’s coral reefs. The loss of these urchin populations appears to be responsible for accelerated benthic algal growth and a loss in coral cover.  A research team, including scientists from the Florida Keys (Martin Moe), the University of Miami (Tom Capo) and Mote (David Vaughan and Kevan Main), is developing aquaculture methods to produce urchins for restoration trials. For the first two years, Martin Moe focused on developing small-scale culture techniques for Diadema.  Broodstock were repeatedly spawned and numerous larval rearing trials were conducted. In year three, collaborative research involving Tom Capo and Martin Moe focused on increasing larval survival and determining the key factors required to induce metamorphosis from the swimming larval stage to the bottom-dwelling juvenile urchin stage.