Tissue mortality by Caribbean ciliate infection and white band disease in three reef-building coral species

Caribbean ciliate infection (CCI) and white band disease (WBD) are diseases that affect a multitude of coral hosts and are associated with rapid rates of tissue losses, thus contributing to declining coral cover in Caribbean reefs. In this study we compared tissue mortality rates associated to CCI i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 4; p. e2196
Main Authors: Verde, Alejandra, Bastidas, Carolina, Croquer, Aldo
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 26.07.2016
PeerJ, Inc
PeerJ Inc
Subjects:
Acropora cervicornis
Acropora palmata
Bacteria
Caribbean ciliate infection
Ciliates
Colonies
Coral diseases
Coral reefs
Corals
Disease
Ecology
Health aspects
Infection
Infections
Marine Biology
Marine ecology
Mortality
National parks
Reefs
Risk factors
Species
Studies
Venezuela
White band disease
Venezuela
Coral diseases
White band disease
Venezuela
Ciliates
Caribbean ciliate infection
Corals
ISSN:2167-8359, 2167-8359
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Caribbean ciliate infection (CCI) and white band disease (WBD) are diseases that affect a multitude of coral hosts and are associated with rapid rates of tissue losses, thus contributing to declining coral cover in Caribbean reefs. In this study we compared tissue mortality rates associated to CCI in three species of corals with different growth forms: Orbicella faveolata (massive-boulder), O. annularis (massive-columnar) and Acropora cervicornis (branching). We also compared mortality rates in colonies of A. cervicornis bearing WBD and CCI. The study was conducted at two locations in Los Roques Archipelago National Park between April 2012 and March 2013. In A. cervicornis , the rate of tissue loss was similar between WBD (0.8 ± 1 mm/day, mean ± SD) and CCI (0.7 ± 0.9 mm/day). However, mortality rate by CCI in A. cervicornis was faster than in the massive species O. faveolata (0.5 ± 0.6 mm/day) and O. annularis (0.3 ± 0.3 mm/day). Tissue regeneration was at least fifteen times slower than the mortality rates for both diseases regardless of coral species. This is the first study providing coral tissue mortality and regeneration rates associated to CCI in colonies with massive morphologies, and it highlights the risks of further cover losses of the three most important reef-building species in the Caribbean.
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ISSN:2167-8359
2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.2196