Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action

Table 3. Diseases associated with cyanobacteria reported to affect stony corals in the tropical Pacific Ocean,Indian Ocean and Red Sea.ConditionLocation andSpecies affectedDescriptionSourceBlack banddiseaseAustralia, Egypt, Fiji, India,Jordan, Papua New Guinea,Philippines, Saudi Arabia,Tonga, South Africa, CNMI,Palau19 genera, 49 species;Pocillopora and Acroporamost frequently affectedA darkly pigmented mat/band 1-30 cm wide on the surface of thecoral that separates healthy tissuefrom recently denuded whiteskeleton.Antonius, 1987; Chesher,1985; Glazebrook andSteiner, 1994; Littler andLittler, 1996; Miller, 1996;Korrubel and Riegl, 1998;Fenner, 1998; Cervino,1998; Jordan and Samways,2001; Dinesdale, 2002,Willis et al., 2004Brown banddiseaseAustraliaAcropora FormosaDifferent condition from aboveassociated with cyanobacteriaDinsdale, 1994BlackaggressivebandMauritiusAcropora (staghorn coral)Resembles BBD but the bandmaterial is thinner and appearsgrey rather than black; possiblycaused by a cyanobacteria(Spirulina) or a spirocheteAntonius, 1995aBlackovergrowingcyanobacteriaIndian Ocean, MauritiusAcropora, Favia Pocillopora,Porites,Cyanobacteria (Calothrix,Hormothamnium, Lyngbia,Phormidium, Spirula) cover coraltissue and progressivelyovergrow it; may penetrates anderodes skeletonAntonius, 1995aRed banddiseasePalauPachyseris speciosa andPorites spp.A reddish band on the surface ofthe coral that separates healthytissue from recently denudedwhite skeleton.Harvell et al., 2004;Sussman et al., 2006Pink linedisease/syndromePapua New Guinea,Sri Lanka, Kavaratti Island,Indian OceanPorites compressa, P. luteaBand of pink pigmented tissueseparating recently killedskeleton and normal tissue; itmay begin as a small ring andprogress outward. Associatedwith a cyanobacteria.Ravindran et al., 2001;Goreau/Cervino, coral listserverTwo distinct conditions have been reported as yellow band disease. In theCaribbean, YBD (also referred to as yellow blotch disease) was first reported fromFlorida in 1994 (Reef Relief), and subsequently observed in 24 countries throughout theCaribbean. It primarily affects M. annularis complex and 4 other massive faviids corals,A. agaricites, and P. astreoides. This disease has been reported at an unusually highprevalence in a number of countries (18-91%) including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Curacao,Bonaire, Grenada, Panama, and USVI (Cervino et al., 2001; Jordan-Dahlgren andRodriguez-Martinez, 2004; Bruckner and Bruckner, 2006). Yellow band disease wasfirst reported in 1995 from the Arabian Gulf off Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and in1999 and 2003 off Fahr Island and Kish Island (Iran). It affects Turbinaria, Porites,Cyphastrea and Acropora (Korrubel and Riegl, 1998).101