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Characterizing lesions in corals from American Samoa

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Abstract

The study of coral disease has suffered from an absence of systematic approaches that are commonly used to determine causes of diseases in animals. There is a critical need to develop a standardized and portable nomenclature for coral lesions in the field and to incorporate more commonly available biomedical tools in coral disease surveys to determine the potential causes of lesions in corals. We characterized lesions in corals from American Samoa based on gross and microscopic morphology and classified them as discoloration, growth anomalies, or tissue loss. The most common microscopic finding in corals manifesting discoloration was the depletion of zooxanthellae, followed by necrosis, sometimes associated with invasive algae or fungi. The most common microscopic lesion in corals manifesting tissue loss was cell necrosis often associated with algae, fungi, or protozoa. Corals with growth anomaly had microscopic evidence of hyperplasia of gastrovascular canals, followed by necrosis associated with algae or metazoa (polychaete worms). Several species of apparently normal corals also had microscopic changes, including the presence of bacterial aggregates or crustacea in tissues. A single type of gross lesion (e.g., discoloration) could have different microscopic manifestations. This phenomenon underlines the importance of using microscopy to provide a more systematic description of coral lesions and to detect potential pathogens associated with these lesions.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded, in part, from US Fish and Wildlife Service Interagency Agreement No. 122000N004. We thank Peter Craig and Eva Pasko (National Park Service), Nancy Daschbach (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration), Anthony Beeching, Flynn Curren, and Dave Wilson (American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. Chuck Birkeland kindly helped with the identification of corals with species. Esther Peters, Lou Sileo, and anonymous reviewers provided constructive comments. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Lee Yandall.

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Correspondence to T. M. Work.

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Communicated by Biological Editor H.R. Lasker

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Work, T.M., Rameyer, R.A. Characterizing lesions in corals from American Samoa. Coral Reefs 24, 384–390 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-005-0018-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-005-0018-0

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