scholarly journals Measuring Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Induction and Lesion Progression Within Two Intermediately Susceptible Species, Montastraea cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine R. Eaton ◽  
Jan H. Landsberg ◽  
Yasunari Kiryu ◽  
Esther C. Peters ◽  
Erinn M. Muller
Keyword(s):  
Basal Body ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Progression Rate ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Orbicella Faveolata ◽  
Montastraea Cavernosa

During the last several decades, Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR) has been impacted by both global and local stressors that have devastated much of its living coral cover. Additionally, since 2014 FCR has experienced a lethal disease outbreak termed stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). Here, we examined SCTLD spreading dynamics within and among fragmented coral colonies and quantified lesion progression rate of two intermediately susceptible species—Montastraea cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata—through induction experiments conducted in laboratory aquaria. M. cavernosa colonies showing subacute tissue loss were sequentially fragmented parallel to the lesion edge to determine whether isolated tissue that showed no tissue-loss signs, referred to as isolated apparently healthy (AH) donor fragments, would subsequently exhibit tissue loss. Additionally, AH M. cavernosa and O. faveolata fragments, referred to as recipient fragments, were placed in direct contact with the M. cavernosa donor fragments to assess incidence of new tissue-loss lesions. Finally, AH M. cavernosa donor fragments were placed in direct contact with recipient M. cavernosa and O. faveolata fragments to account for aggression from direct contact. Samples were collected for histopathology of the corals through time. Many isolated AH donor fragments developed tissue-loss lesions during the 60-day study, suggesting SCTLD may be systemic within small-sized colonies. Our results confirmed that physical contact between recipient fragments and subacute SCTLD-lesioned tissue often led to tissue loss in recipient fragments. None of the control recipient or donor fragments experienced tissue loss. Grossly, multifocal lesions started on or adjacent to the septal and costal basal body walls with tissue loss progressing across the polyp septa and coenenchyme, respectively, in both species. Histologically, initial tissue-loss lesions in both species exhibited characteristic lytic necrosis (LN) at the basal body wall of the gastrodermis. O. faveolata exhibited higher rates of lesion appearance and subsequent mortality compared to M. cavernosa, but once a lesion appeared, M. cavernosa lost tissue faster than O. faveolata. This work contributes to the growing knowledge of SCTLD dynamics and highlights the differences in lesion progression within susceptible species.

scholarly journals Changing Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Dynamics Through Time in Montastraea cavernosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greta Aeby ◽  
Blake Ushijima ◽  
Erich Bartels ◽  
Cory Walter ◽  
Joseph Kuehl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Species ◽  
Disease Prevalence ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Disease Dynamics ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Fort Lauderdale ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Montastraea Cavernosa ◽  
Lesion Morphology

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is affecting corals across the Western Atlantic and displays species-specific and regional differences in prevalence, incidence, degree of mortality, and lesion morphology. We examined two Florida sites with different temporal histories of disease emergence; Fort Lauderdale where SCTLD is endemic and the Lower Florida Keys where SCTLD has recently emerged. Our objectives were to (1) assess the potential impact of SCTLD on overall reef condition by surveying reefs in each region, (2) in a single common species, Montastraea cavernosa, examine differences in SCTLD prevalence, colony mortality, and lesion morphology in each region, and (3) look for differences in contagion by conducting transmission experiments using lesions from each region. Reef surveys found sites in both regions had low coral cover, high algae cover, and similar coral species composition. SCTLD prevalence was higher in the Lower Keys than at Fort Lauderdale and two of the common species, M. cavernosa and S. siderea at Fort Lauderdale were dominated by smaller colonies (<5 cm) whereas larger colonies occurred in the Lower Keys. Tagged M. cavernosa SCTLD-affected colonies were followed for 2 years at one site in each region. In both years, Fort Lauderdale colonies showed declining disease prevalence, low colony mortality, and disease lesions were mainly bleached spots lacking tissue loss. In contrast, Lower Keys colonies tagged in the first year maintained 100% disease prevalence with high mortality, and disease lesions were predominantly tissue loss with no bleached edges. However, SCTLD dynamics changed, with year two tagged colonies showing declining disease prevalence, low mortality, and lesion morphology switched to a mixture of bleached polyps and tissue loss with or without bleached edges. Lesion morphology on colonies was a significant predictor of amount of tissue loss. Aquaria studies found the rate of SCTLD transmission using lesions from the different zones (emergent and endemic) were similar. Our study highlights that differences in coral mortality from SCTLD are not necessarily linked to host species, lesion morphology is reflective of subsequent rate of mortality, and disease dynamics change through time on reefs where the disease has newly emerged.

scholarly journals Impacts of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) on Coral Community Structure at an Inshore Patch Reef of the Upper Florida Keys Using Photomosaics

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Kolodziej ◽  
Michael S. Studivan ◽  
Arthur C. R. Gleason ◽  
Chris Langdon ◽  
Ian C. Enochs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
Coral Community ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Coral Mortality ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Reef Tract

Since the appearance of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) on reefs off Miami in 2014, this unprecedented outbreak has spread across the entirety of Florida’s coral reef tract, as well as to many territories throughout the Caribbean. The endemic zone reached the upper Florida Keys by 2016, resulting in partial or complete mortality of coral colonies across numerous species. Disease was first observed at Cheeca Rocks (Islamorada, Florida) in the beginning of 2018, with reports of coral mortality peaking mid-year. The disease was still present at Cheeca Rocks as of March 2020, however, to a lesser degree compared to the initial outbreak. Annual monitoring efforts have been ongoing at Cheeca Rocks since 2012, including repeated benthic photomosaics of a 330 m2 survey zone, spanning six replicate sites. As such, a repository of coral community composition data exists for before and after the disease outbreak that was analyzed to assess the impacts of SCTLD on reef communities at an upper Florida Keys inshore reef. Cheeca Rocks is hypothesized to be a resilient reef due to its persistent high coral cover despite its inshore location, which subjects corals to fluctuating water quality and marginal environmental conditions. Coral populations here have been shown to recover from bleaching events and heat stress with minimal coral mortality. Though colonies of coral species characterized as highly and moderately susceptible to SCTLD (e.g., Colpophyllia natans, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Pseudodiploria strigosa, Orbicella annularis, and O. faveolata) suffered mortality as a result of the outbreak with an average loss of 16.42% relative cover by species, the overall impacts on coral cover and community structure were relatively low, contributing to a loss of total coral cover of only 1.65%. Comparison of photomosaic data to other studies indicate Cheeca Rocks may not have been affected as severely as other sites on Florida’s coral reef tract, underlying this site’s potential role in coral resilience to stressors including bleaching events, land-based pollution, and disease epizootics.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of topical antibiotics in treating corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Neely ◽  
Kevin A. Macaulay ◽  
Emily K. Hower ◽  
Michelle A. Dobler
Keyword(s):  
Coral Species ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Hard Coral ◽  
Topical Antibiotic ◽  
Topical Antibiotics ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Orbicella Faveolata ◽  
Reef Tract

Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has led to mass mortality of the majority of hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Following the successful treatment of SCTLD lesions on laboratory corals using water dosed with antibiotics, two topical pastes were developed as vehicles to directly apply antibiotic treatments to wild corals. These pastes were tested as placebos and with additions of amoxicillin on active SCTLD lesions on multiple coral species. The effectiveness of the pastes without antibiotics (placebo treatments) was 4% and 9%, no different from untreated controls. Adding amoxicillin to both pastes significantly increased effectiveness to 70% and 84%. Effectiveness with this method was seen across five different coral species, with success rates of the more effective paste ranging from 67% (Colpophyllia natans) to 90% (Orbicella faveolata and Montastraea cavernosa). Topical antibiotic application is a viable and effective tool for halting disease lesions on corals affected by SCTLD.

scholarly journals Metabolomics of Healthy and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Affected Montastraea cavernosa Corals

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Deutsch ◽  
Olakunle A. Jaiyesimi ◽  
Kelly A. Pitts ◽  
Jay Houk ◽  
Blake Ushijima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Species ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Metabolic Markers ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Differential Outcomes ◽  
Betaine Lipids ◽  
Montastraea Cavernosa ◽  
Apparently Healthy

Stony coral tissue loss disease, first observed in Florida in 2014, has now spread along the entire Florida Reef Tract and on reefs in many Caribbean countries. The disease affects a variety of coral species with differential outcomes, and in many instances results in whole-colony mortality. We employed untargeted metabolomic profiling of Montastraea cavernosa corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease to identify metabolic markers of disease. Herein, extracts from apparently healthy, diseased, and recovered Montastraea cavernosa collected at a reef site near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida were subjected to liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Unsupervised principal component analysis reveals wide variation in metabolomic profiles of healthy corals of the same species, which differ from diseased corals. Using a combination of supervised and unsupervised data analyses tools, we describe metabolite features that explain variation between the apparently healthy corals, between diseased corals, and between the healthy and the diseased corals. By employing a culture-based approach, we assign sources of a subset of these molecules to the endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, Symbiodiniaceae. Specifically, we identify various endosymbiont- specific lipid classes, such as betaine lipids, glycolipids, and tocopherols, which differentiate samples taken from apparently healthy corals and diseased corals. Given the variation observed in metabolite fingerprints of corals, our data suggests that metabolomics is a viable approach to link metabolite profiles of different coral species with their susceptibility and resilience to numerous coral diseases spreading through reefs worldwide.

Determining Lesion Progression Rate of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease using Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. SC12-SC17
Author(s):  
Franziska Elmer ◽  
Yuliza Cruz ◽  
Christa Dock ◽  
Anna Ortega ◽  
Steven Wedel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structure From Motion ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Progression Rate ◽  
Stony Coral

scholarly journals Fine Scale Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Outbreak Within the Lower Florida Keys

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara D. Williams ◽  
Cory S. Walter ◽  
Erinn M. Muller
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stony Coral

One of the latest threats to Florida’s Coral Reef is the stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) outbreak which affects all but a few Caribbean scleractinian species and has spread throughout the Caribbean since 2014. Without a known pathogen, ecological studies of disease dynamics are essential for understanding SCTLD susceptibility at the individual colony and reef level. We investigated the epizootiology of the SCTLD outbreak in the lower Florida Keys at two spatial scales (among reefs ∼1 km and within reefs <10 m) over a 19 month period. In May 2018, three sites absent of SCTLD were established to characterize coral demographics (i.e., live tissue cover and colony diameter) along an offshore to nearshore gradient, and were subsequently surveyed for disease every 2–3 weeks until December 2019. SCTLD was first noted within the offshore and mid-channel reef sites in early October 2018 and later appeared at the nearshore site in early February 2019. SCTLD was negatively correlated with thermal stress, showing reduced progression and incidence rates after 2–3 weeks of water temperatures above the mean monthly maximum temperature for the region (i.e., 2–3 degree heating weeks). Although Pseudodiploria strigosa, Dichocoenia stokesii, Colpophyllia natans, and Diploria labyrinthiformis were the most susceptible species at our sites, areas with more Montastraea cavernosa and Orbicella faveolata colonies had higher prevalence and greater tissue loss associated with disease. The disease was more severe within quadrats with high species diversity, high coral cover, and disproportionately affected larger colonies. Our spatial analyses suggest that (1) SCTLD followed a contagious disease model within small (<10 m) spatial scales, (2) colonies within 1.5–3 m of a diseased coral were at higher risk for subsequently showing disease signs compared with those farther away, and (3) high incidence rates coincided with the loss of small scale (<10 m radius) spatial clustering, suggesting pulses of contagious spread on large spatial scales.

scholarly journals Effects of the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Outbreak on Coral Communities and the Benthic Composition of Cozumel Reefs

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuria Estrada-Saldívar ◽  
Blanca A. Quiroga-García ◽  
Esmeralda Pérez-Cervantes ◽  
Omar O. Rivera-Garibay ◽  
Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip
Keyword(s):  
Coral Cover ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Coral Mortality ◽  
Benthic Assemblages ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Coral Communities ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Benthic Composition

In the Caribbean, disease outbreaks have emerged as significant drivers of coral mortality. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a novel white plague-type disease that was first reported off the Florida coast in 2014. This disease affects >20 coral species and is spreading rapidly throughout the Caribbean. In December 2018, SCTLD reached southwestern (SW) Cozumel, one of the healthiest reef systems in the Caribbean. In this study, we integrate data from multiple survey protocols conducted between July 2018 and April 2020 to track the progression of the outbreak in SW Cozumel and to quantify the impacts of SCTLD on coral communities and the benthic composition of reefs. Given that the SCTLD outbreak coincided with a period of prolonged thermal stress that concluded in widespread coral bleaching in autumn 2019, we also investigated whether this event further exacerbated coral mortality. Our findings show that SCTLD spread throughout SW Cozumel in only 2 months and reached a peak after only 5 months. By the summer of 2019, most of the afflicted corals were already dead. Species of the families Meandrinidae, Faviinae, and Montastraeidae showed 33–95% mortality. The widespread coral die-off caused an overall loss of 46% in coral cover followed by a rapid increase of algae cover across all surveyed reefs that persisted until at least April 2020. In November 2019, more than 15% of surveyed coral colonies were bleached. However, we did not find that bleaching further increased coral mortality at either the colony or the community level, which suggests that the coral communities were able to recover from this event despite still being affected by the disease. In conclusion, SCTLD is radically changing the ecology of coral reefs by decimating the populations of several key reef-builders and reconfiguring the benthic assemblages. The actions needed to restore coral populations have to be accompanied by stringent controls related to the effects of climate change, coastal development, and wastewater treatment to improve coral conditions and ecosystem resilience.

scholarly journals Assessing the effectiveness of two intervention methods for stony coral tissue loss disease on Montastraea cavernosa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin N. Shilling ◽  
Ian R. Combs ◽  
Joshua D. Voss
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Disease Status ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Montastraea Cavernosa ◽  
Coral Health

AbstractStony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first observed in Florida in 2014 and has since spread to multiple coral reefs across the wider Caribbean. The northern section of Florida’s Coral Reef has been heavily impacted by this outbreak, with some reefs experiencing as much as a 60% loss of living coral tissue area. We experimentally assessed the effectiveness of two intervention treatments on SCTLD-affected Montastraea cavernosa colonies in situ. Colonies were tagged and divided into three treatment groups: (1) chlorinated epoxy, (2) amoxicillin combined with CoreRx/Ocean Alchemists Base 2B, and (3) untreated controls. The experimental colonies were monitored periodically over 11 months to assess treatment effectiveness by tracking lesion development and overall disease status. The Base 2B plus amoxicillin treatment had a 95% success rate at healing individual disease lesions but did not necessarily prevent treated colonies from developing new lesions over time. Chlorinated epoxy treatments were not significantly different from untreated control colonies, suggesting that chlorinated epoxy treatments are an ineffective intervention technique for SCTLD. The results of this experiment expand management options during coral disease outbreaks and contribute to overall knowledge regarding coral health and disease.

scholarly journals Metabolomics of healthy and stony coral tissue loss disease affected Montastraea cavernosa corals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M Deutsch ◽  
Olakunle Jaiyesimi ◽  
Kelly Pitts ◽  
Jay Houk ◽  
Blake Ushijima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Species ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Metabolic Markers ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
Differential Outcomes ◽  
Betaine Lipids ◽  
Montastraea Cavernosa ◽  
Apparently Healthy

Stony coral tissue loss disease, first observed in Florida in 2014, has now spread along the entire Florida Reef Tract and on reefs in many Caribbean countries. The disease affects a variety of coral species with differential outcomes, and in many instances results in whole-colony mortality. We employed untargeted metabolomic profiling of Montastraea cavernosa corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease to identify metabolic markers of disease. Herein, extracts from apparently healthy, diseased, and recovered corals, Montastraea cavernosa, collected at a reef site near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida were subjected to liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Unsupervised principal component analysis reveals wide variation in metabolomic profiles of healthy corals of the same species, which differ from diseased corals. Using a combination of supervised and unsupervised data analyses tools, we describe metabolite features that explain variation between the apparently healthy corals, between diseased corals, and between the healthy and the diseased corals. By employing a culture-based approach, we assign sources of a subset of these molecules to the endosymbiotic dinoflagellates, Symbiodiniaceae. Specifically, we identify various endosymbiont- specific lipid classes, such as betaine lipids, glycolipids, and tocopherols, which differentiate samples taken from apparently healthy corals and diseased corals. Given the variation observed in metabolite fingerprints of corals, our data suggests that metabolomics is a viable approach to link metabolite profiles of different coral species with their susceptibility and resilience to numerous coral diseases spreading through reefs worldwide.

scholarly journals Quantifying impacts of stony coral tissue loss disease on corals in Southeast Florida through surveys and 3D photogrammetry

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252593
Author(s):  
Ian R. Combs ◽  
Michael S. Studivan ◽  
Ryan J. Eckert ◽  
Joshua D. Voss
Keyword(s):  
Coral Species ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Tissue Loss ◽  
Coral Tissue ◽  
Stony Coral ◽  
3D Photogrammetry ◽  
Colony Area ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Colony Level

Since 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has contributed to substantial declines of reef-building corals in Florida. The emergence of this disease, which impacts over 20 scleractinian coral species, has generated a need for widespread reef monitoring and the implementation of novel survey and disease mitigation strategies. This study paired SCTLD prevalence assessments with colony-level monitoring to help improve understanding of disease dynamics on both individual coral colonies and at reef-wide scales. Benthic surveys were conducted throughout the northern Florida Reef Tract to monitor the presence/absence of disease, disease prevalence, and coral species affected by SCTLD. Observed SCTLD prevalence was lower in Jupiter and Palm Beach than in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea or St. Lucie Reef, but there were no significant changes in prevalence over time. To assess colony-level impacts of the disease, we optimized a low-cost, rapid 3D photogrammetry technique to fate-track infected Montastraea cavernosa coral colonies over four time points spanning nearly four months. Total colony area and healthy tissue area on fate-tracked colonies decreased significantly over time. However disease lesion area did not decrease over time and was not correlated with total colony area. Taken together these results suggest that targeted intervention efforts on larger colonies may maximize preservation of coral cover. Traditional coral surveys combined with 3D photogrammetry can provide greater insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics and impacts of coral diseases on individual colonies and coral communities than surveys or visual estimates of disease progression alone.

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