A rapid spread of the stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak in the Mexican Caribbean

Abstract

Caribbean reef corals have experienced unprecedented declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors and infectious diseases in recent decades. Since 2014, a highly lethal, new disease, called stony coral tissue loss disease, has impacted many reef-coral species in Florida. During the summer of 2018, we noticed an anomalously high disease prevalence affecting different coral species in the northern portion of the Mexican Caribbean. We assessed the severity of this outbreak in 2018/2019 using the AGRRA coral protocol to survey 82 reef sites across the Mexican Caribbean. Then, using a subset of 14 sites, we detailed information from before the outbreak (2016/2017) to explore the consequences of the disease on the condition and composition of coral communities. Our findings show that the disease outbreak has already spread across the entire region by affecting similar species (with similar disease patterns) to those previously described for Florida. However, we observed a great variability in prevalence and tissue mortality that was not attributable to any geographical gradient. Using long-term data, we determined that there is no evidence of such high coral disease prevalence anywhere in the region before 2018, which suggests that the entire Mexican Caribbean was afflicted by the disease within a few months. The analysis of sites that contained pre-outbreak information showed that this event considerably increased coral mortality and severely changed the structure of coral communities in the region. Given the high prevalence and lethality of this disease, and the high number of susceptible species, we encourage reef researchers, managers and stakeholders across the Western Atlantic to accord it the highest priority for the near future.

Rhodobacterales and Rhizobiales Are Associated With Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and Its Suspected Sources of Transmission

“…Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is an ongoing multi-year coral disease outbreak first identified in South Florida and now spreading in the Caribbean (Walton et al, 2018;Alvarez-Filip et al, 2019). It affects multiple coral species including US Endangered Species Act listed corals FIGURE 9 | Coral microbiome network analysis.…”

Massive Influx of Pelagic Sargassum spp. on the Coasts of the Mexican Caribbean 2014–2020: Challenges and Opportunities

“…The negative consequences SBT are likely to interact with other threats on ecological communities in the region. For example, since 2018 the communities of reef-building corals throughout the Mexican Caribbean have been hit by an emergent disease, often called Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease [75]. This disease has affected nearly 30 coral species, with severe population losses (>50%) for maze and brain coral (Meandrinidae and Mussidae families) [75]).…”

“…For example, since 2018 the communities of reef-building corals throughout the Mexican Caribbean have been hit by an emergent disease, often called Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease [75]. This disease has affected nearly 30 coral species, with severe population losses (>50%) for maze and brain coral (Meandrinidae and Mussidae families) [75]). The outbreak seems to have spread considerably more rapidly along the Mexican Caribbean, than in Florida or other affected regions.…”

“…The outbreak seems to have spread considerably more rapidly along the Mexican Caribbean, than in Florida or other affected regions. One possible explanation is that the deterioration in water quality due to SBT has contributed to the worsening environmental conditions that have favored this disease [75].…”

Disease Diagnostics and Potential Coinfections by Vibrio coralliilyticus During an Ongoing Coral Disease Outbreak in Florida

“…This highly virulent disease has since spread north and south along almost the entirety of the Florida Reef Tract at a rate of approximately 100 m per day (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 2018;Muller et al, 2020). Unfortunately, by early 2019, SCTLD has spread outside of the Florida Reef Tract and into various Caribbean reefs (Alvarez-Filip et al, 2019). There are at least 20 different coral species susceptible to SCTLD, which includes important reef-builders like Montastraea cavernosa, Orbicella faveolata, Colpophyllia natans, and Pseudodiploria strigosa (Precht et al, 2016;Walton et al, 2018;Aeby et al, 2019;Muller et al, 2020).…”