Latest Coral Disease

Coral disease is a disease found in coral that caused by an algae that grown in the reef tank. There are many identified coral diseases and its causes. One of which is white plague type II. White Plague Type II disease in corals is triggered by the direct contact of coral with macroalgae halimeda puntia. Nugues, claims that this disease causes the widespread death of corals that occur with heavy growth of macroalgae. Cited in Nugues. Et al; www.practicalfishing.co.uk. Macroalgae is said to be the responsible for many coral diseases that if not controlled, it will also lead to coral death. Other identified cause of coral disease is coral bleaching or white syndrome. With this disease, coral looked bleached which caused by the high sea temperature that led coral to eject the symbiotic algae that produce food for the coral.

Coral bleaching makes the coral weaker and more prone from attack of diseases. Extreme heat, due to global warming caused this coral bleaching because heat can trigger the virus in zooxanthellae, which is known for food production of corals. As the sea temperature becomes more heaters, more severe coral diseases are also expected to arise. This syndrome can treat and prevented if the sea temperature gets colder. Aside from warm temperature, overcrowding of corals also brings white syndrome. Researchers found out that the syndrome increases its rate from 1998, increased 20-fold in 2002, not just due to warm temperature but also because of overcrowding of corals. Researchers found out that corals can not breath and grow properly if they are closely tight with each other, and they are more prone to diseases. Widespread of disease easily occur if they are too close with each other.

There are also other five identified coral diseases and their causes aside from the diseases mention earlier. One is brown band. Dense population of single-celled organism called ciliates causes brown band. These ciliates are hairy organisms that eat the food of coral known as zooxanthellae, it appears as brown jelly that cause disease to corals. Second is black necrosing syndrome. Coral appears to be dead with this kind of disease. Black patches eat away the tissues of corals that leave in white skeleton. It is actually found out in many gorgonian corals in Northern Great Barrier Reef.

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Third known disease is the pink spot. Pink spot is caused by the larval stage of the parasitic flatworm; which has three life stages that is parasitic on a mollusk, and affects the tissues of corals, which makes sensitive to predation by butterfly fish. However, healthy polyps regenerate from coral once the butterfly fish eats affected polyp. Fourth is Coral Tumor. These Tumors are formed by groups of polyps with increased growth rates. Corals affected with this disease appear to have spherical lumps raised about 4.5 cm from the surface of the coral. This tumor affects the reduction of function and growth of corals. There is a little known spread of numbers of this tumor and it is only monitored in Heron Island.

The fifth known disease of corals is black band disease. This disease is associated with cyanobacteria. Coral with black band disease looks healthy in front but dead and look white behind. This band can move across coral colony at rate of 44mm a day. Scientist first coral disease observed this disease last 1973. The sixth and last identified coral disease is the Skeletal Eroding Band. It is similar to black band disease. However, this disease produces a white skeleton speckled with empty black shells of the ciliate, which causes diseases that disrupt the process of secreting protective shells or loricae.

Work Cited:

Coral Diseases. www.altavista.com/coraldiseases

Latest Coral diseases. www.google.com

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