Folliculinid ciliates: a new threat to Caribbean corals?
TLDR
The presence of a putative pathogenic ciliate protozoan of the genus Halofolliculina was found on 10 hard coral species at the National Parks of Los Roques and Morrocoy, Venezuela, suggesting it could be a new threat to the coral reefs of this region.Abstract:
This is the first report of a putative pathogenic ciliate protozoan that has been associated with Caribbean corals. Previously, only 2 species of the phylum Ciliophora had been linked to coral diseases, and they were exclusive to the Indo-Pacific region. In this study, a ciliate of the genus Halofolliculina was found on 10 hard coral species at the National Parks of Los Roques and Morrocoy, Venezuela. The general morphology of this ciliate is very similar to that of Halofolliculina corallasia from the Indo-Pacific, which is known to cause skeletal eroding band. None of the other 31 genera in the family Folliculinidae are known to cause diseases in corals or in any other animal species. The presence of this ciliate, which shows a prevalence comparable to that of other epizootics in the Caribbean, suggests it could be a new threat to the coral reefs of this region.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Status and progress in coral reef disease research.
TL;DR: The role that various Vibrio species play in coral disease and health, the composition of the 'normal microbiota' of corals, and the possible role of viruses in the disease process are important additions to knowledge.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacterial assemblages differ between compartments within the coral holobiont
TL;DR: The results indicate that microbial communities are spatially structured within the coral holobiont, and methods used to describe these need to be standardized to allow comparisons between studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Relationship of diversity and habitat area in North Pacific plastic-associated rafting communities
TL;DR: Diversity patterns on plastic debris are compatible with the concept of island biogeography, and the number of rafting taxa was positively correlated with the size of the raft.
Book ChapterDOI
Coral Reef Diseases in the Atlantic-Caribbean
Ernesto Weil,Caroline S. Rogers +1 more
TL;DR: Coral reefs are the jewels of the tropical oceans as discussed by the authors and provide millions of people with food, building materials, protection from storms, recreation and social stability over thousands of years, and more recently, income, active pharmacological compounds and other benefits.
Journal ArticleDOI
Epidemiology of skeletal eroding band on the Great Barrier Reef and the role of injury in the initiation of this widespread coral disease
Cathie A. Page,Bette L. Willis +1 more
TL;DR: Invading ciliates failed to form band-like aggregations associated with progressive tissue loss on any of three coral species tested experimentally, suggesting that, while H. corallasia readily colonises recently exposed coral skeleton, it may not be sufficient in itself to cause tissue mortality.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Emerging Marine Diseases--Climate Links and Anthropogenic Factors
C. D. Harvell,Kiho Kim,Kiho Kim,JoAnn M. Burkholder,Rita R. Colwell,Rita R. Colwell,Paul R. Epstein,D. J. Grimes,Eileen E. Hofmann,Erin K. Lipp,Albert D. M. E. Osterhaus,Robin M. Overstreet,James Porter,Garriet W. Smith,Gerardo R. Vasta +14 more
TL;DR: A dramatic global increase in the severity of coral bleaching in 1997-98 is coincident with high El Niño temperatures, which climate-mediated, physiological stresses may compromise host resistance and increase frequency of opportunistic diseases.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global spread of microorganisms by ships
Gregory M. Ruiz,Tonya K. Rawlings,Tonya K. Rawlings,Tonya K. Rawlings,Fred C. Dobbs,Lisa A. Drake,Timothy L. Mullady,A. Huq,A. Huq,Rita R. Colwell,Rita R. Colwell +10 more
TL;DR: It is shown that the global movement of ballast water by ships creates a long-distance dispersal mechanism for human pathogens and may be important in the worldwide distribution of microorganisms, as well as for the epidemiology of waterborne diseases affecting plants and animals.
Journal ArticleDOI
Disease and immunity in Caribbean and Indo-Pacific zooxanthellate corals
TL;DR: Etiologies of only 5 of the 18 coral diseases have been determined through fulfillment of Koch's postulates, and alternative techniques for identifying disease-causing organisms are described.
Book ChapterDOI
Coral Reef Diseases in the Wider Caribbean
TL;DR: Weil et al. as discussed by the authors found that coral reef communities around the world have been experiencing increasingly stressful conditions due to a combination of natural and detrimental anthropogenic factors such as habitat degradation, over-fishing, pollutant input, bleaching, hurricanes and more recently, diseases.