"Since baby corals have not been included in surveys of the disease on Florida's reefs, we have likely underestimated the extent of mortality caused by this disease," said the study's lead author Olivia Williamson, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology at the UM Rosenstiel School.
During the first exposure, roughly 60 percent of the boulder brain coral babies lost all tissue and died within two to eight days of developing lesions. In contrast, 38 percent of the disease-exposed grooved brain coral babies exhibited active disease lesions during the same period and only one death occurred.
"There is a ray of hope in that size matters, and there is safety in numbers," said Williamson."Since some of them avoided becoming infected at all, it suggests that some corals harbor a degree of resistance—or are at least relatively less susceptible—to disease." The research is an important warning to coral restoration practitioners about the risk of SCTLD in baby corals that they grow and outplant, but also suggests that this risk can be reduced by growing coral recruits larger and promote grouping before outplanting.
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