BackgroundThe rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.Methodology/Principal FindingsSatellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005. Field surveys of bleaching and mortality exceeded prior efforts in detail and extent, and provided a new standard for documenting the effects of bleaching and for testing nowcast and forecast products. Collaborators from 22 countries undertook the most comprehensive documentation of basin-scale bleaching to date and found that over 80% of corals bleached and over 40% died at many sites. The most severe bleaching coincided with waters nearest a western Atlantic warm pool that was centered off the northern end of the Lesser Antilles.Conclusions/SignificanceThermal stress during the 2005 event exceeded any observed from the Caribbean in the prior 20 years, and regionally-averaged temperatures were the warmest in over 150 years. Comparison of satellite data against field surveys demonstrated a significant predictive relationship between accumulated heat stress (measured using NOAA Coral Reef Watch's Degree Heating Weeks) and bleaching intensity. This severe, widespread bleaching and mortality will undoubtedly have long-term consequences for reef ecosystems and suggests a troubled future for tropical marine ecosystems under a warming climate.

This study reports on the taxonomic verification and distribution of three presumed morphologically identical Tridacna species (giant clams), namely T. crocea, T. maxima and T. squamosa, from nine localities in islands off Terengganu, Pahang and Johor in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A 467-bp partial sequence of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase 1 (MT-CO1), which serves as the DNA barcoding gene, was analysed for species identification of 247 samples. The MT-CO1 gene was successfully used to identify all the giant clam samples to species level based on GenBank BLAST and BOLD databases. Three highly-supported clusters were obtained, which supported the morphological species determination into T. crocea, T. maxima and T. squamosa. However, a few discrepancies were observed, which could be attributed to misidentification of juveniles. T. squamosa and T. crocea were more closely related to each other compared to T. maxima. T. maxima and T. squamosa were found to be ubiquitous in all the islands, while T. crocea was restricted to the southeastern islands of Pahang and Johor. The precise identification of samples through the MT-CO1 gene and information on their distributions are useful in strategising the conservation and management of giant clams in this region.

Oplegnathus punctatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) is reported for the first time in the southern South China Sea, off Pulau Tenggol, Malaysia. This species is native to the north-western and central Pacific Ocean and mainly occurs in subtropical and warm temperate waters. This record is a significant southward extension of its range and also represents the first documentation of the family Oplegnathidae in Malaysia. 

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In Malaysia, numerous offshore oil and gas platforms are approaching the end of their operational lifespans and will soon be scheduled for decommissioning. Traditional decommissioning typically involves the complete removal of the platform from the seabed, consequently resulting in the destruction of the established marine life communities present on the structure. A Rigs-to-Reefs strategy provides an alternative to the complete removal of obsolete, non-productive offshore oil and gas platforms, by converting the platform into a permanent artificial reef by utilizing one of the following three methods: partial removal or topple-in-place (in-situ), or tow and place (ex-situ). In-situ reefing provides a means of conserving the marine communities found on the platform by decommissioning the platform jacket in place as an artificial reef. However, not all platforms are good candidates for a Rigs-to-Reef conversion. Thus, pre-decommissioning biological assessments should be undertaken to determine the most appropriate decommissioning strategy on a case-by-case basis. In this study, a biological assessment was developed to catalog the marine life assemblages present on two offshore oil and gas platforms in Malaysia using remotely operated vehicles. Given the limited amount of biological data available on the marine ecosystems found on Malaysia’s platforms, this data may be useful for minimizing adverse impacts of platform removal, while enhancing benefits to the marine environment.