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Slow progression of black band disease in Goniopora cf. columna colonies may promote its persistence in a coral community

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Abstract

Coral diseases have been little investigated in the Indian Ocean and especially in the Republic of Maldives, where they were firstly observed in 2010. Through repeated monitoring, we observed a peculiar slow progression of Black Band Disease in several large colonies of the reef-building coral Goniopora cf. columna in the Maldivian reefs of Magoodhoo Island (Faafu Atoll). We argue that this may ensure the local persistence of the disease, possibly promoting long-term mortality of other, more susceptible coral species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the MaRHE Center staff of Magoodhoo Island for the logistical support provided. We also thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy

    Simone Montano, Davide Seveso, Davide Maggioni & Paolo Galli

  2. MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives

    Simone Montano, Davide Seveso, Davide Maggioni & Paolo Galli

  3. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, Italy

    Giovanni Strona

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  1. Simone Montano
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  2. Giovanni Strona
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  3. Davide Seveso
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  4. Davide Maggioni
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  5. Paolo Galli
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Correspondence to Simone Montano.

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Montano, S., Strona, G., Seveso, D. et al. Slow progression of black band disease in Goniopora cf. columna colonies may promote its persistence in a coral community. Mar Biodiv 45, 857–860 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0273-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-014-0273-9

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