Behavioral and Chemical Aspects of Black Band Disease of Corals: An In Situ Field and Laboratory Study
Richardson L and Carlton R. Behavioral and Chemical Aspects of Black Band Disease of Corals: An In Situ Field and Laboratory Study. Pages 107 - 116. In Thirteenth annual Scientific Diving Symposium. Pacific Grove, CA. 1993. American Academy of Underwater Sciences
Black band disease of corals consists of a dense microbial community dominated by the cyanobacterium ("bluegreen alga") Phormidium corallvticum. The community, which is present as a line or band, migrates across the surface of infected scleractinian coral colonies, completely degrading coral tissue and leaving behind bare coral skeleton. Studies were performed on chemical microenvironments present within black band and their relation to behavioral patterns exhibited by microorganisms associated with the band. Vertical profiles of oxygen and sulfide within the top 500 micrometers of freshly collected intact band, measured using microelectrodes, demonstrated that the base of the band, near coral tissue, is both anoxic and contains sulfide. Oxygen microelectrodes were also used underwater to investigate vertical gradients of oxygen in black band in the natural environment. The in situ measurements corroborated the laboratory study, and showed that strong oxygen gradients were present throughout the band. The chemical dynamics and biological interactions within black band are similar to those reported from a wide variety of attached microbial communities found in diverse aquatic environments.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Richardson, Laurie; Carlton, Richard
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Health, Infection, marine ecosystem, Sick, sickness