Abstract
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.
Highlights
Diseases in the marine ecosystem affect various organisms [1] among which diseases affecting the zooxanthellate scleractinian corals have received increased attention due to their link to the global decline of the coral reef ecosystems [2]
6.2% (n = 714) of the colonies were infected with Black Band Disease (BBD) (Table S2), 2.4%
The results showed BBD progression rates varying from June to December correlating with seawater temperatures (Figure 8)
Summary
Diseases in the marine ecosystem affect various organisms [1] among which diseases affecting the zooxanthellate scleractinian corals have received increased attention due to their link to the global decline of the coral reef ecosystems [2]. Massive forms of reef-building corals like are among the most susceptible in terms of numbers of disease [2], several studies have highlighted the fragility of the genus Montipora to various diseases [3,4,5,6,7]. Montipora is a speciose genus of zooxanthellate scleractinian coral with a wide range of morphotypes including submassive, laminar, encrusting, and branching colonies, and is common on many Indo-Pacific coral reefs [8,9]. Distributed across the Indo-Pacific, in the Japanese Archipelago, Montipora has been reported from the southernmost Yaeyama Islands north to the Izu Peninsula, with species diversity decreasing northwards [10].
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