Widespread occurrence of coral diseases in the central Maldives

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Montano ◽  
Giovanni Strona ◽  
Davide Seveso ◽  
Davide Maggioni ◽  
Paolo Galli
Keyword(s):  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Coral Genus ◽  
Pathogen Diversity ◽  
Brown Band ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Local Host ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Reef Decline ◽  
Study Sites

Coral diseases are one of the most important causes of coral reef decline worldwide. Although they are well investigated in some areas of the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef, they have been poorly studied in the Indian Ocean, and particularly in the Maldives, where the presence of coral pathologies has been reported only recently. In order to fill this gap, we investigated the prevalence, local host range and distribution of five coral diseases, namely brown band disease, skeleton eroding band, black band disease (BBD), ulcerative white spot and white syndrome (WS), in the central part of the Maldivian Archipelago, focussing, in particular, on the dominant coral genus Acropora. We estimated an overall disease prevalence of approximately 1.51%. Malè North Atoll was the most affected area; however, coral diseases were present at all study sites. WS was the most widespread disease, whereas BBD affected the highest number of scleractinian genera. We found symptoms of disease on 18 genera belonging to eight families. Acropora was the most affected genus in terms of pathogen diversity. These results provide baseline disease levels for the Maldives and can therefore serve as gauge for monitoring future change.

scholarly journals Baseline reef health surveys at Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) reveal new threats

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Ponti ◽  
Francesca Fratangeli ◽  
Nicolò Dondi ◽  
Marco Segre Reinach ◽  
Clara Serra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survey Period ◽  
Human Disturbances ◽  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Current Time ◽  
North Sulawesi ◽  
Metal Mine ◽  
Reef Health ◽  
Coral Health ◽  
Blast Fishing ◽  
Reef Decline

Worldwide coral reef decline appears to be accompanied by an increase in the spread of hard coral diseases. However, whether this is the result of increased direct and indirect human disturbances and/or an increase in natural stresses remains poorly understood. The provision of baseline surveys for monitoring coral health status lays the foundations to assess the effects of any such anthropogenic and/or natural effects on reefs. Therefore, the objectives of this present study were to provide a coral health baseline in a poorly studied area, and to investigate possible correlations between coral health and the level of anthropogenic and natural disturbances. During the survey period, we recorded 20 different types of coral diseases and other compromised health statuses. The most abundant were cases of coral bleaching, followed by skeletal deformations caused by pyrgomatid barnacles, damage caused by fish bites, general pigmentation response and galls caused by cryptochirid crabs. Instances of colonies affected by skeletal eroding bands, and sedimentation damage increased in correlation to the level of bio-chemical disturbance and/or proximity to villages. Moreover, galls caused by cryptochirid crabs appeared more abundant at sites affected by blast fishing and close to a newly opened metal mine. Interestingly, in the investigated area the percentage of corals showing signs of ‘common’ diseases such as black band disease, brown band disease, white syndrome and skeletal eroding band disease were relatively low. Nevertheless, the relatively high occurrence of less common signs of compromised coral-related reef health, including the aggressive overgrowth by sponges, deserves further investigation. Although diseases appear relatively low at the current time, this area may be at the tipping point and an increase in activities such as mining may irredeemably compromise reef health.

scholarly journals New records of coral diseases in the Persian Gulf

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 14912-134913
Author(s):  
Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour ◽  
Sanaz Hazraty-Kari
Keyword(s):  
Coral Bleaching ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
New Records ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Yellow Band ◽  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Yellow Band Disease ◽  
The Persian Gulf

We report first observations of three coral diseases including black band disease on Acropora, a syndrome resembling yellow band disease and red band disease on Porites colonies from depth 5–6 m at Abu-Musa Island  after widespread coral bleaching in the northern part of the Persian Gulf  in October 2012. 

scholarly journals New records of coral diseases in the Persian Gulf

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 14912-14913
Author(s):  
Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour ◽  
Sanaz Hazraty-Kari
Keyword(s):  
Coral Bleaching ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
New Records ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Yellow Band ◽  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Yellow Band Disease ◽  
The Persian Gulf

We report first observations of three coral diseases including black band disease on Acropora, a syndrome resembling yellow band disease and red band disease on Porites colonies from depth 5–6 m at Abu-Musa Island  after widespread coral bleaching in the northern part of the Persian Gulf  in October 2012. 

scholarly journals Estimating Fishing Effort and Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Longline Vessels in the Indian Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Febrianto W. Utama ◽  
Xavier Hoenner ◽  
Britta Denise Hardesty ◽  
David Peel ◽  
Jessica H. Ford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Fishing Activity ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Fisheries Resources ◽  
Spatial Shift ◽  
Landing Sites ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Protein from fish is essential for feeding the world’s population and is increasingly recognized as critical for food security. To ensure that fisheries resources can be sustainably maintained, fisheries management must be appropriately implemented. When logbook and landing records data are not complete or are incorrect, it is challenging to have an accurate understanding of catch volume. Focusing on Indonesian longline vessels operating in the Indian Ocean from 2012–2019 (n = 1124 vessels), our aims were to (1) assess compliance through identification of landing sites and potentially illicit behavior inferred by interruptions in VMS transmission, and (2) understand how the fishery operates along with quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of fishing intensity by applying a Hidden Markov Model, which automatically classified each VMS position as fishing, steaming and anchoring. We found vessel compliance gaps in 90% of vessels in the dataset. Compliance was questionable due both to the widespread occurrence of long intermissions in relaying VMS positions (mean = 17.8 h, n = 973 vessels) and the use of unauthorized landing sites. We also observed substantial changes in fishing effort locations among years. The introduction of regulatory measures during the study period banning transshipment and foreign vessels may be responsible for the spatial shift in fishing activity we observed, from encompassing nearly the whole Indian Ocean to more recent intense efforts off western Sumatra and northern Australia.

PREVALENSI DAN KELIMPAHAN PENYAKIT KARANG DI PERAIRAN DESA BUTON KABUPATEN MOROWALI SULAWESI TENGAH

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ayu Safitri ◽  
Ratna Diyah Palupi ◽  
. Rahmadani
Keyword(s):  
White Spot ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
White Band ◽  
Brown Band ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Belt Transect ◽  
White Band Disease ◽  
Brown Band Disease

Penyakit karang sekarang ini sudah menjadi perhatian utama para peneliti karang. Banyak kasus dilaporkan penyakit karang menjadi penyumbang terbesar kematian karang di sebuah perairan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui prevalensi dan kelimpahan penyakit karang di Perairan Desa Buton, Kabupaten Morowali, Sulawesi Tengah. Metode pengambilan data prevalensi dan kelimpahan penyakit karang menggunkan belt transect (transek sabuk) dengan luas 180m2 yang ditarik sejajar garis pantai pada 3 (tiga) titik stasiun. Hasil penelitian menunjukan ditemukan sebanyak 5 (lima) jenis penyakit karang (White Band Disease, Brown Band Disease, Ulcerative White Spot, Bleaching, dan Black Band Disease dan 3 (tiga) jenis gangguan kesehatan karang (Fish bites, Crown-of-Thorn-Starfish (COTS), dan Tube formers). Secara umum total prevalensi penyakit karang di lokasi penelitian sebesar 78,7% (52,3% penyakit karang dan 26,4% berupa gangguan kesehatan karang) dengan kasus tertinggi terdapat di stasiun 1 (satu). lebih lanjut kelimpahan rata-rata penyakit karang sebesar 0,65 koloni/m2. Kelimpahan penyakit karang tertinggi ditemukan pada stasiun I yaitu sebesar 0,32 koloni/m2.Kata Kunci: Penyakit Karang, Prevalensi, Kelimpahan, Perairan Desa Buton

scholarly journals Modelling environmental drivers of black band disease outbreaks in populations of foliose corals in the genus Montipora

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla C.M. Chen ◽  
David G. Bourne ◽  
Christopher C. Drovandi ◽  
Kerrie Mengersen ◽  
Bette L. Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Disease ◽  
Seawater Temperature ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Healthy Coral

Seawater temperature anomalies associated with warming climate have been linked to increases in coral disease outbreaks that have contributed to coral reef declines globally. However, little is known about how seasonal scale variations in environmental factors influence disease dynamics at the level of individual coral colonies. In this study, we applied a multi-state Markov model (MSM) to investigate the dynamics of black band disease (BBD) developing from apparently healthy corals and/or a precursor-stage, termed ‘cyanobacterial patches’ (CP), in relation to seasonal variation in light and seawater temperature at two reef sites around Pelorus Island in the central sector of the Great Barrier Reef. The model predicted that the proportion of colonies transitioning from BBD to Healthy states within three months was approximately 57%, but 5.6% of BBD cases resulted in whole colony mortality. According to our modelling, healthy coral colonies were more susceptible to BBD during summer months when light levels were at their maxima and seawater temperatures were either rising or at their maxima. In contrast, CP mostly occurred during spring, when both light and seawater temperatures were rising. This suggests that environmental drivers for healthy coral colonies transitioning into a CP state are different from those driving transitions into BBD. Our model predicts that (1) the transition from healthy to CP state is best explained by increasing light, (2) the transition between Healthy to BBD occurs more frequently from early to late summer, (3) 20% of CP infected corals developed BBD, although light and temperature appeared to have limited impact on this state transition, and (4) the number of transitions from Healthy to BBD differed significantly between the two study sites, potentially reflecting differences in localised wave action regimes.

Coral diseases in aquaria and in nature

2011 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sweet ◽  
Rachel Jones ◽  
John Bythell
Keyword(s):  
Grey Literature ◽  
Reef Coral ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Brown Band ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Pathogenic Agents ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

Many reef coral diseases have been described affecting corals in the wild, several of which have been associated with causal agents based on experimental inoculation and testing of Koch's postulates. In the aquarium industry, many coral diseases and pathologies are known from the grey literature but as yet these have not been systematically described and the relationship to known diseases in the wild is difficult to determine. There is therefore scope to aid the maintenance and husbandry of corals in aquaria by informing the field of the scientifically described wild diseases, if these can be reliably related. Conversely, since the main driver to identifying coral diseases in aquaria is to select an effective treatment, the lessons learnt by aquarists on which treatments work with particular syndromes provides invaluable evidence for determining the causal agents. Such treatments are not commonly sought by scientists working in the natural environment due the cost and potential environmental impacts of the treatments. Here we review both wild and aquarium diseases and attempt to relate the two. Many important aquarium diseases could not be reconciled to those in the wild. In one case, however, namely that of the ciliateHelicostomasp. as a causal agent of brown jelly syndrome in aquarium corals, there may be similarities with pathogenic agents of the wild coral diseases, such as white syndrome and brown band syndrome. We propose thatHelicostomais actually a misnomer, but improved understanding of this pathogen and others could benefit both fields. Improved practices in aquarium maintenance and husbandry would also benefit natural environments by reducing the scale of wild harvest and improving the potential for coral culture, both for the aquarium industry and for rehabilitation programmes.

scholarly journals Four-Year Field Survey of Black Band Disease and Skeletal Growth Anomalies in Encrusting Montipora spp. Corals around Sesoko Island, Okinawa

Diversity ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Rocktim Ramen Das ◽  
Haruka Wada ◽  
Giovanni Diego Masucci ◽  
Tanya Singh ◽  
Parviz Tavakoli-Kolour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Skeletal Growth ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Growth Anomalies ◽  
Coral Genus ◽  
Black Band

The Indo-Pacific zooxanthellate scleractinian coral genus Montipora is the host of many coral diseases. Among these are cyanobacterial Black Band Disease (BBD) and Skeletal Growth Anomalies (GAs), but in general data on both diseases are lacking from many regions of the Indo-Pacific, including from Okinawa, southern Japan. In this study, we collected annual prevalence data of Black Band Disease (BBD) and Skeletal Growth Anomalies (GAs) affecting the encrusting form of genus Montipora within the shallow reefs of the subtropical Sesoko Island (off the central west coast of Okinawajima Island) from summer to autumn for four years (2017 to 2020). In 2020 Montipora percent coverage and colony count were also assessed. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) were used to understand the spatial and temporal variation of both BBD and GAs in the nearshore (NE) and reef edge (RE) sites, which revealed higher probability of BBD occurrence in RE sites. BBD prevalence was significantly higher in 2017 in some sites than all other years with site S12 having significant higher probability during all four surveyed years. In terms of GAs, certain sites in 2020 had higher probability of occurrence than during the other years. While the general trend of GAs increased from 2017 to 2020, it was observed to be non-fatal to colonies. In both diseases, the interaction between sites and years was significant. We also observed certain BBD-infected colonies escaping complete mortality. BBD progression rates were monitored in 2020 at site S4, and progression was related to seawater temperatures and was suppressed during periods of heavy rain and large strong typhoons. Our results suggest that higher BBD progression rates are linked with high sea water temperatures (SST > bleaching threshold SST) and higher light levels (> 1400 µmol m−2 s−1), indicating the need for further controlled laboratory experiments. The current research will help form the basis for continued future research into these diseases and their causes in Okinawa and the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

Antipathogenic Activity of Acroporid Bacterial Symbionts Against Brown Band Disease-Associated Bacteria

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Rosa Amalia ◽  
Diah Ayuningrum ◽  
Agus Sabdono ◽  
Ocky Karna Radjasa
Keyword(s):  
16S Rrna ◽  
16S Rrna Gene ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Bacterial Isolates ◽  
16S Rrna Gene Sequences ◽  
Coral Diseases ◽  
Associated Bacteria ◽  
Brown Band ◽  
The 16S Rrna Gene ◽  
Brown Band Disease

The coral reefs’ condition in most regions in Indonesia has been declining due to coral diseases, such as Brown Band Disease (BrBD). A treatment for BrBD involves the use of biological control agents that have antagonistic properties against disease-causing agents. This study aimed to isolate bacteria from healthy hard coral, those associated with BrBD, and those that had bioactivities against BrBD. Sampling and identification of corals and BrBD were carried out in March 2015 at the Marine National Park of Karimunjawa. Bacteria from healthy and infected corals were isolated and purified. The isolates were subjected to antipathogenic assay using overlay and agar diffusion methods. Finally, molecular identification of active bacteria was carried out using the 16S rRNA gene amplification. As many as 57 bacterial isolates were obtained from healthy coral, as well as four bacterial isolates from coral with BrBD symptoms. A total of 15 bacterial isolates (26%) showed antipathogenic activity against BrBD-associated bacteria. Three isolates with the strongest antipathogenic activities, i.e., GAMSH 3, KASH 6, and TAPSH 1 were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequences. The results showed that they were aligned to Virgibacillus marismortui (97%), Oceanobacillus iheyensis (97%), and Bacillus cereus (96%), respectively.

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