A New Threat? Investigating Unusual Lesions on the Florida Keys’ Largest Corals
Location
HCAS Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University
Start
2-13-2025 2:30 PM
End
2-13-2025 2:45 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral Presentation
Abstract
A potential previously undescribed coral disease, currently referred to in the field as Fast Lesion Progression (FLP), has affected numerous reef sites along the Florida Keys. FLP manifests as rapidly progressing, generally linear lesions on Orbicella faveolata colonies, often accompanied by sloughing tissue at the lesion line. To determine lesion progression rates of FLP, O. faveolata colonies affected by FLP were tagged and monitored at three Florida Keys reef sites. Additionally, microbial, TEM, and histology samples were collected from FLP-affected O. faveolata colonies at these reefs for further analyses and comparison to previously studied coral diseases. To assess whether the disease was present on reefs in the recent past, monitoring photos from 2019-2023 of presumed stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) affected colonies were reexamined to investigate whether FLP was affecting the coral concurrently. These monitoring photos were also assessed to determine whether identified FLP lesions responded to amoxicillin treatments. This project aims to understand the severity of the threat FLP poses to coral reef ecosystems through investigation of its prevalence, impact to affected colonies, and response to currently utilized disease intervention methods.
A New Threat? Investigating Unusual Lesions on the Florida Keys’ Largest Corals
HCAS Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University
A potential previously undescribed coral disease, currently referred to in the field as Fast Lesion Progression (FLP), has affected numerous reef sites along the Florida Keys. FLP manifests as rapidly progressing, generally linear lesions on Orbicella faveolata colonies, often accompanied by sloughing tissue at the lesion line. To determine lesion progression rates of FLP, O. faveolata colonies affected by FLP were tagged and monitored at three Florida Keys reef sites. Additionally, microbial, TEM, and histology samples were collected from FLP-affected O. faveolata colonies at these reefs for further analyses and comparison to previously studied coral diseases. To assess whether the disease was present on reefs in the recent past, monitoring photos from 2019-2023 of presumed stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) affected colonies were reexamined to investigate whether FLP was affecting the coral concurrently. These monitoring photos were also assessed to determine whether identified FLP lesions responded to amoxicillin treatments. This project aims to understand the severity of the threat FLP poses to coral reef ecosystems through investigation of its prevalence, impact to affected colonies, and response to currently utilized disease intervention methods.