Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Localized bleaching in Hawaii causes tissue loss and a reduction in the number of gametes in Porites compressa

  • Note
  • Published:
Coral Reefs Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Localized bleaching (a discrete white area on the coral) was observed in one of the main framework-building corals in Hawaii, Porites compressa. This study aimed to determine the degree of virulence of the lesion. We investigated the whole-colony effects by following disease progression through time and examining the effect of localized bleaching on coral fecundity. After two months, 35 of 42 (83.3%) individually tagged colonies affected by localized bleaching showed tissue loss and partial colony mortality. Histological slides of healthy P. compressa and samples from colonies showing signs of localized bleaching were compared showing that affected colonies had a significant reduction (almost 50%) in gamete development, egg numbers, and egg size in the affected tissue. The observed localized bleaching results in both partial colony mortality and a reduced number of gametes and was termed Porites Bleaching with Tissue Loss (PBTL).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Aeby GS, Kenyon JC, Maragos JE, Potts DC (2003) First record of mass coral bleaching in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Coral Reefs 22:256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aeby GS, Ross M, Williams GJ, Lewis TD, Work TM (2010) Disease dynamics of Montipora white syndrome within Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii: distribution, seasonality, virulence and transmissibility. Dis Aquat Org 91:1–8

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Haim Y, Banim E, Kushmaro A, Loya Y, Rosenberg E (1999) Inhibition of photosynthesis and bleaching of zooxanthellae by the coral pathogen Vibrio shiloi. Environ Microbiol 1:223–229

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Haim Y, Zicherman-Keren M, Rosenberg E (2003) Temperature-regulated bleaching and lysis of the coral Pocillopora damicornis by the novel pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:4236–4242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borger JL, Colley S (2010) The effects of a coral disease on the reproductive output of Montastraea faveolata (Scleractinia: Faviidae). Rev Biol Trop 58:99–110

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cox EF (2007) Continuation of sexual reproduction in Montipora capitata following bleaching. Coral Reefs 26:721–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox EF, Ward S (2002) Impact of elevated ammonium on reproduction in two Hawaiian scleractinian corals with different life history patterns. Mar Pollut Bull 44:1230–1235

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drollet JH, Faucon M, Martin PMV (1995) Elevated sea-water temperature and solar UV-B flux associated with two successive coral mass bleaching events in tahiti. Mar Freshw Res 46:1153–1157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fabricius KE (2005) Effects of terrestrial runoff on the ecology of corals and coral reefs: review and synthesis. Mar Pollut Bull 50:125–146

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1996) Coral reef bleaching: Facts, hypotheses and implications. Global Change Biol 2:495–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW, D’Croz L (1990) Experimental evidence for hight temperature stress as the cause of El-Nino-coincident coral mortality. Coral Reefs 8:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grotolli AG, Rodrigues LJ, Palardy JE (2006) Heterotrophic plasticity and resilience in bleached corals. Nature 44:1186–1189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Holst I (1993) Effects of chronic oil-sediment pollution on the reproduction of the Caribbean reef coral Siderastrea siderea. Mar Pollut Bull 26:276–282

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world’s coral reefs. Mar Freshw Res 50:839–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O, Fine M (2004) Low temperatures cause coral bleaching. Coral Reefs 23:444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoegh-Guldberg O, Salvat B (1995) Periodic mass bleaching and elevated sea temperatures—bleaching of outer reef slope communities in Moorea, French Polynesia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 121:181–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Tanner JE (2000) Recruitment failure, life histories, and long-term decline of Caribbean corals. Ecology 81:2250–2263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Baird AH, Dinsdale EA, Moltschaniwskyj NA, Pratchett MS, Tanner JE, Willis BL (2000) Supply-side ecology works both ways: The link between benthic adults, fecundity, and larval recruits. Ecology 81:2241–2249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jokiel PL (1987) Ecology, biogeography and evolution of corals in Hawaii. Trends Ecol Evol 2:179–182

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jokiel PL (2004) Temperature stress and coral bleaching. In: Rosenberg E, Loya Y (eds) Coral health and disease. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, pp 401-425

  • Jokiel PL, Coles SL (1990) Response of Hawaiian and other Indo-Pacific reef corals to elevated temperature. Coral Reefs 8:155–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenyon JC, Aeby GS, Brainard RE, Chojnacki JD, Dunlap MJ, Wilkinson CB (2006) Mass coral bleaching on high-latitude reefs in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Proc 10th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:631–643

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushmaro A, Loya Y, Fine M, Rosenberg E (1996) Bacterial infection and coral bleaching. Nature 380:396

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maragos JE (1972) A study of the ecology of Hawaiian reef corals. Ph.D dissertation, University of Hawaii

  • Mdodo RM, Obura D (1998) Studies on environmental factors responsible for coral reef bleaching in Kenya. Mar Technol-Soc Annual Conference: 452–456

  • Metz JAJ, Nisbet RM, Geritz SAH (1992) How should we define fitness for general ecological scenarios. Trends Ecol Evol 7:198–202

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muscatine L, Falkowski PG, Porter JW, Dubinsky Z (1984) Fate of photosynthetic fixed carbon in light-adapted and shade-adapted colonies of the symbiotic coral Stylophora pistillata. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 222:181–202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neves EG (2000) Histological analysis of reproductive trends of three Porites species from Kane’ohe Bay, Hawai’i. Pac Sci 54:195–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Okubo N, Taniguchi H, Omori M (2009) Sexual reproduction in transplanted coral fragments of Acropora nasuta. Zool Sci 48:442–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Petes LE, Harvell CD, Peters EC, Webb MAH, Mullen KM (2003) Pathogens compromise reproduction and induce melanization in Caribbean sea fans. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 264:167–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymundo LJH, Harvell CD, Reynolds TL (2003) Porites ulcerative white spot disease: description, prevalence, and host range of a new coral disease affecting Indo-Pacific reefs. Dis Aquat Org 56:95–104

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rinkevich B, Loya Y (1985) Intraspecific competition in a reef coral: Effects on growth and reproduction. Oecologia 66:100–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szmant AM, Gassman NJ (1990) The effects of prolonged bleaching on the tissue biomass and reproduction of the reef coral Montastrea annularis. Coral Reefs 8:217–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner JE (1995) Competition between scleractinian corals and macroalgae: An experimental investigation of coral growth, survival and reproduction. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 190:151–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij MJA (2005) Substrate composition and adult distribution determme recruitment patterns in a Caribbean brooding coral. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 295:123–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeij MJA (2006) Early life-history dynamics of Caribbean coral species on artificial substratum: the importance of competition, growth and variation in life-history strategy. Coral Reefs 25:59–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward S, Harrison P, Hoegh-Guldberg O (2000) Coral bleaching reduces reproduction of scleractinian corals and increases susceptibility to future stress. Proc 9th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:1123–1128

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster M (2011) Dictionary and Thesaurus: Merriam Webster online. http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/disease

  • Weil E, Croquer A, Urreiztieta I (2009) Yellow band disease compromises the reproductive output of the Caribbean reef-building coral Montastraea faveolata (Anthozoa, Scleractinia). Dis Aquat Org 87:45–55

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Work TM, Aeby GS (2006) Systematically describing gross lesions in corals. Dis Aquat Org 70:155–160

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Work TM, Rameyer RA (2005) Characterizing lesions in corals from American Samoa. Coral Reefs 24:384–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to greatly thank Christina Runyon for her assistance with sample collections and Alan Hoverd for his advice on histological techniques and supply of reagents. We would also like to thank Dr. Thierry Work for assistance with the interpretation of histological sections and Dr. Andrew Taylor for advice on the use of appropriate statistical methods. MS was supported by a VUW PhD Scholarship. SAP number 2009-101.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6042, New Zealand

    M. Sudek & S. K. Davy

  2. Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, PO Box 1346, Kaneohe, HI, 96744, USA

    G. S. Aeby

Authors
  1. M. Sudek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. S. Aeby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. K. Davy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. K. Davy.

Additional information

Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Mark Vermeij

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sudek, M., Aeby, G.S. & Davy, S.K. Localized bleaching in Hawaii causes tissue loss and a reduction in the number of gametes in Porites compressa . Coral Reefs 31, 351–355 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0844-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-011-0844-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation