Disease Prevalence and Snail Predation Associated with Swell-Generated Damage on the Threatened Coral, Acropora palmata (Lamarck)

Bright, Allan J.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Brandt, Marilyn E.; Muller, Erinn M.; Smith, Tyler B.

doi:10.3389/fmars.2016.00077

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…At Curaçao, it was the most common host coral species, whereas P. strigosa ranked second (Potkamp 2016). The elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata (Lamarck, 1816), is known as a common prey of Coralliophila snails (Baums et al 2003a;Miller 2001;Johnston et al 2012;Bright et al 2016). However, its abundance in Curaçao has strongly declined over the last decades (Chamberland et al 2015), which made it unsuitable as possible host in the present study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

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Host-dependent variation in density of corallivorous snails (Coralliophila spp.) at Curaçao, southern Caribbean

2016

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Snails of the genus Coralliophila (Muricidae: Coralliophilinae) are common in the Caribbean as corallivores that feed on a large range of host species. The present study concerns the distribution of two Coralliophila snails, C. caribaea and C. galea, at 5-m and 10-m depths at Curaçao (southern Caribbean), as associates of the common scleractinians Orbicella annularis and Pseudodiploria strigosa. Coralliophila galea was abundant on both host species, while C. caribaea was represented only by a single individual on a colony of P. strigosa. No significant differences in shell length were found between snails associated with O. annularis and P. strigosa. The distribution of C. galea on both host species deviated significantly from a random distribution. The snails were most abundant at 5-m depth, particularly on larger colonies of O. annularis, with > 60 % of large colonies colonized by snails, while snails were absent on small colonies. This distinction was not significant in P. strigosa at the same depth or in O. annularis at a depth of 10 m. The results suggest that host preference should be considered in assessments of reef health in connection to damage caused by Coralliophila spp.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…and Orbicella spp. (Miller 2001;Baums et al 2003a, b;Johnston and Miller 2006;Bright et al 2016), or have grouped many host species together (Bruckner et al 1997). However, the host range on which Caribbean Coralliophila spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host-dependent variation in density of corallivorous snails (Coralliophila spp.) at Curaçao, southern Caribbean

2016

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“…Increased occurrence and prevalence of fireworm and snail predation toward the end of the study could be severely damaging for the future growth of the species because predation may become more focused due to the lack of tissue available, leading to the removal of more growth tips from the same colonies. Moreover, fireworms have been a proven vector of a bleaching pathogen (Sussman et al, 2003), which is of great concern because colonies with predation lesions may be more likely to become diseased (Miller et al, 2014b) and both fireworms and snails have been associated with increased disease prevalence (Knowlton et al, 1990;Miller et al, 2014b;Bright et al, 2016). Therefore, it may be advantageous to manage both snail and fireworm populations to increase the health and growth of A. cervicornis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Causes of Temporal Changes in Acropora cervicornis Populations and the Potential for Recovery

et al. 2019

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Corals, specifically the Atlantic staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, are under major threat as disturbance events such as storms and disease and predation outbreaks increase in frequency. Since its population declines due to a wide spread disease event in the early 1980s, limited long-term monitoring studies describing the impact of current threats and potential recovery have been completed. The aim of this study was to document the impacts of environmental (tropical storms, increased wind) and biological (disease and predation) threats on A. cervicornis to further understand its population dynamics and potential for recovery. Two high-density A. cervicornis patches (greater than 1 hectare each) were surveyed tri-annually (winter, summer, fall) from 2008-2016. A. cervicornis percent cover, canopy height, census of individuals, and prevalence and occurrence of disease, predation, and bleaching were evaluated within permanent 3.5 m radial plots (n = 27 and 31). Temporal variability was observed in mean percent live cover at both patches and showed an overall loss of tissue. Frequent disturbances such as tropical storms, hurricanes, and disease events, caused increased, prolonged, and widespread mortality. Periods void of disturbance allowed for recovery and growth. Prevalence and occurrence of disease and predation were highly variable between monitoring events. They were also found to be significantly higher on masses (individuals ≥ 1.5 m) than on colonies and during summer surveys (June-August). These data indicate that substantial length of time between major disturbance events is necessary for recovery and growth of this species. The implication of these results is that given the current rates of growth, recruitment, and storm frequency, natural species recovery is unlikely unless large scale issues like climate change and ocean warming, which affect the intensity and frequency of disease and predation, are addressed.

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“…Instrument observations on the northern Puerto Rican shelf at a leeward shelf edge bank 39.5 m depth showed that long-period swell of greater than 13 s and wave heights >4 m caused notable benthic turbulence (Bright et al, 2016). Both Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Marilyn that passed within 25 years prior to the study were sufficiently strong to generate sea states predicted for a major storm in our calculations.…”

Section: Mechanical Disturbance As a Structuring Forcementioning

confidence: 75%

Potential Structuring Forces on a Shelf Edge Upper Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem in the US Virgin Islands

et al. 2016

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Mesophotic coral ecosystems are extensive light-dependent habitats that typically form between 30 and 150 m depth in the tropical oceans. The forces that structure the benthic communities in these ecosystems are poorly understood but this is rapidly changing with technological advances in technical diving and remote observation that allow large-scale scientific investigation. Recent observations of southeastern Puerto Rican Shelf of the US Virgin Islands have shown that this Caribbean mesophotic coral ecosystem has distinct habitats within the same depth ranges and across small horizontal distances (<<1 km), that range from sparse hardbottom to vibrant coral reefs with stony coral cover >25%. High-resolution bathymetric mapping of the shelf edge revealed a topographically distinct semi-continuous 71 km-long relict barrier reef bank system. The purpose of this study was to characterize the pattern of mesophotic habitat development of the shelf edge and use this data to narrow the potential long-term and large-scale structuring forces of this mesophotic coral ecosystem. We hypothesized from limited preliminary observations that the shelf edge coral cover was limited in shallower portions of the bank and on the seaward orientation. Through stratified random surveys we found that increasing depth and decreasing wave driven benthic orbital velocities were positively related to coral abundance on the shelf edge. In addition, low coral cover habitats of the shelf edge contrasted strongly with adjacent on shelf banks surveyed previously in the same depth range, which had relatively high coral cover (>30%). Predictions of benthic orbital velocities during major storms suggested that mechanical disturbance combined with low rates of coral recovery as a possible mechanism structuring the patterns of coral cover, and these factors could be targets of future research.

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Disease Prevalence and Snail Predation Associated with Swell-Generated Damage on the Threatened Coral, Acropora palmata (Lamarck)

Cited by 14 publications

References 48 publications

Host-dependent variation in density of corallivorous snails (Coralliophila spp.) at Curaçao, southern Caribbean

Host-dependent variation in density of corallivorous snails (Coralliophila spp.) at Curaçao, southern Caribbean

Identifying Causes of Temporal Changes in Acropora cervicornis Populations and the Potential for Recovery

Potential Structuring Forces on a Shelf Edge Upper Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem in the US Virgin Islands

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