{"id":99,"date":"2019-07-09T23:47:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T23:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/?p=99"},"modified":"2021-03-16T09:17:54","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T09:17:54","slug":"stony-coral-tissue-loss-disease-heading-towards-antilles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/2019\/07\/09\/stony-coral-tissue-loss-disease-heading-towards-antilles\/","title":{"rendered":"Stony coral tissue loss disease heading towards Antilles 9Jul2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A healthy colony of Porites porites<\/em> on the Vauxhall reef, Barbados. P. porites<\/em> is one of the species found susceptible to stony coral disease in Florida<\/p><\/div>\n

Stony coral tissue loss disease, first reported in Florida in 2014, is moving quickly according to a report in Science News and has reached the US Virgin Islands; view:<\/p>\n

A mysterious coral disease is ravaging Caribbean reef<\/strong><\/a>
\nBY CASSIE MARTIN 6:00AM, JULY 9, 2019 on Science News<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is also affecting deeper water corals:<\/p>\n

Holstein is using ocean current data and other factors to forecast where the disease might show up next. Early results suggest that another U.S. Caribbean territory, Puerto Rico, should be worried. Divers in May confirmed that the outbreak is inching toward the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, with star corals about 17 kilometers offshore and 40 meters deep already pocked with white lesions, says Tyler Smith, who oversees the reef monitoring program at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n

The discovery was disheartening, Smith says. Scientists knew that star corals in shallower waters were susceptible to the disease, but hoped those living in deeper waters might be spared.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to info on a website for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Stony Coral Tissue Loss (SCTL) Disease Response<\/a>, nearly half of Florida\u2019s 45 reef-building coral species have reportedly been affected including:<\/p>\n

(* indicates a species listed under the Endangered Species Act):<\/em>
\nAgaricia agaricites (Lettuce coral)<\/em>
\nAgaricia fragilis (Fragile saucer coral)<\/em>
\nColpophyllia natans (Boulder brain coral)<\/em>
\nDendrogyra cylindrus (Pillar coral)*<\/em>
\nDichocoenia stokesii (Elliptical star coral)<\/em>
\nDiploria labyrinthiformis (Grooved brain coral)<\/em>
\nEusmilia fastigiata (Smooth flower coral)<\/em>
\nMeandrina meandrites (Maze coral)<\/em>
\nMontastraea cavernosa (Great star coral)<\/em>
\nMadracis decactis (Ten-ray star coral)<\/em>
\nMycetophyllia spp. (Cactus coral)*<\/em>
\nOrbicella annularis (Lobed star coral)*<\/em>
\nOrbicella faveolata (Mountainous star coral)*<\/em>
\nOrbicella franksi (Boulder star coral)*<\/em>
\nPorites astreoides (Mustard hill coral)<\/em>
\nPorites porites (Clubtip Finger Coral)<\/em>
\nPseudodiploria strigosa (Symmetrical brain coral)<\/em>
\nPseudodiploria clivosa (Knobby brain coral)<\/em>
\nSiderastrea radians (Lesser starlet coral)<\/em>
\nSiderastrea siderea (Massive starlet coral)<\/em>
\nSolenastrea bournoni (Smooth star coral)<\/em>
\nStephanocoenia intersepta (Blushing star coral)<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the most susceptible species have disappeared from certain long-term monitoring sites, however there are still surviving colonies of those species across the Florida Reef Tract. There has been a decline in the population of some species.<\/em><\/p>\n

Among the most susceptible species are<\/em> Dendrogyra cylindrus (pillar coral) which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act,<\/em> Dichocoenia stokesii (elliptical star coral), and<\/em> Meandrina meandrites (maze coral). Some of the most important reef-building species have also<\/em>\u00a0been affected, including Colpophyllia natans (boulder brain coral),<\/em> Montastraea cavernosa (great star coral)<\/em> and Siderastrea siderea (massive starlet coral), among others.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So these are species to keep an eye on in Barbados.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stony coral tissue loss disease, first reported in Florida in 2014, is moving quickly according to a report in Science News and has reached the US Virgin Islands; view: A mysterious coral disease is ravaging Caribbean reef BY CASSIE MARTIN … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}