Diseased great star coral colony (IMAGE)
Caption
The remaining live tissue on this great star coral colony (Montastraea cavernosa) in Florida is being destroyed by stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). The bright white margin surrounding the dark brown, living coral tissue is where the coral is bleaching and dying due to the disease. SCTLD afflicts at least two dozen species of so-called hard corals, which provide essential habitat for innumerable fishes and marine animals of economic and intrinsic value while also helping to defend coastlines from storm damage. Since its discovery in Florida in 2014, cases of SCTLD have been confirmed in at least 20 countries. The precise cause of the malady remains unknown but once a coral is infected, its colony of polyps can die within weeks. Researchers with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered the first effective bacterial probiotic for treating and preventing SCTLD, a mysterious ailment that has devastated Florida’s coral reefs since 2014 and is rapidly spreading throughout the Caribbean.
Credit
Kelly Pitts
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