Examination of coral fragments infected with black band disease (BBD) at the fine- and ultrastructural levels using scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed novel features of the disease. SEM images of the skeleton from the host coral investigated (Montastraea annularis species complex) revealed extensive boring underneath the BBD mat, with cyanobacterial filaments pre...

Turf algae are becoming more abundant on coral reefs worldwide, but their effects on other benthic organisms remain poorly described. To describe the general characteristics of competitive interactions between corals and turf algae, we determined the occurrence and outcomes of coral-turf algal interactions among different coral growth forms (branching, upright, massive, encrusting, plating, and...

The significance of bacteria for eukaryotic functioning is increasingly recognized. Coral reef ecosystems critically rely on the relationship between coral hosts and their intracellular photosynthetic dinoflagellates, but the role of the associated bacteria remains largely theoretical. Here, we set out to relate coral-associated bacterial communities of the fungid host species Ctenactis echinat...

Flow and coral morphology control coral surface pH Chan, Neil C.S.; Wangpraseurt, Daniel; Kühl, Michael; Connolly, Sean R. Published in: Frontiers in Marine Science DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00010 Publication date: 2016 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Citation for published version (APA): Chan, N. C. S., Wangpraseurt, D., Kühl, M., & Connolly, S. R. (2016). Flow ...

Citation: Tortolero-Langarica JJA, Cupul-Magaña AL, Carricart-Ganivet JP, Mayfield AB and Rodríguez-Troncoso AP (2016) Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Porites lobata: The Implications of Morphotype and Gender on Coral Growth. Front. Mar. Sci. 3:179. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00179 Differences in Growth and Calcification Rates in the Reef-Building Coral Por...

A three-dimensional model of diffusion limited coral growth is introduced. As opposed to previous models, in this model we take a “polyp oriented” approach. Here, coral morphogenesis is the result of the collective behaviour of the individual coral polyps. In the polyp oriented model, branching occurs spontaneously, as opposed to previous models in which an explicit rule was responsible for bra...

Until now, it has been well-established that coral complex in the Arabian/Persian Gulf only exist in the coastal regions of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and it was thought that there are no coral reefs in Iraq. However, here for the first time we show the existence of a living 28 km(2) large coral reef in this country. These corals are adapted to on...

Very few studies have been conducted on the long-term effects of typhoon damage on mesophotic coral reefs. This study investigates the long-term community dynamics of damage from Typhoon 17 (Jelawat) in 2012 on the coral community of the upper mesophotic Ryugu Reef in Okinawa, Japan. A shift from foliose to bushy coral morphologies between December 2012 and August 2015 was documented, especiall...

Coral reefs are increasingly exposed to elevated temperatures that can cause coral bleaching and high levels of mortality of corals and associated organisms. The temperature threshold for coral bleaching depends on the acclimation and adaptation of corals to the local maximum temperature regime. However, because of larval dispersal, coral populations can receive larvae from corals that are adap...

Bustling around their reef homes, Red Sea dascyllus damselfish (Dascyllus marginatus) do quite well out of their co-habiting arrangement with hood coral (Stylophora pistillata). ‘The coral provide the fish with shelter from predators and a place for social interactions and egg laying’, says Nur Garcia-Herrera, from the Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Germany. Yet the agreement isn’t entirely one sided...