Bacteria associated with three coral species, Acropora tenuis, Pocillopora damicornis and Tubastrea faulkneri, were assessed before and after coral mass spawning on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. Two colonies of each species were sampled before and after the mass spawning event and two additional samples were collected for P. damicornis after planulation. A variable 470 bp region of the 16...

The symbiosis between corals and dinoflagellates promotes the rapid growth of corals in shallow tropical oceans, and the high overall productivity of coral reefs. The aim of this study was to quantify and understand variation in carbon acquisition and allocation among coral species. We measured multiple physiological traits (including symbiont density, calcification, photosynthesis and tissue c...

Understanding how genetic diversity is maintained across patchy marine environments remains a fundamental problem in marine biology. The Coral Triangle, located in the Indo-West Pacific, is the centre of marine biodiversity and has been proposed as an important source of genetic diversity for remote Pacific reefs. Several studies highlight Micronesia, a scattering of hundreds of small islands s...

Caribbean ciliate infection (CCI) and white band disease (WBD) are diseases that affect a multitude of coral hosts and are associated with rapid rates of tissue losses, thus contributing to declining coral cover in Caribbean reefs. In this study we compared tissue mortality rates associated to CCI in three species of corals with different growth forms: Orbicella faveolata (massive-boulder), O. ...

Fatty acids (FAs) are the main components of lipids in corals. We examined FAs profiles from five symbiotic coral species belonging to different genera (Acropora, Pavona, Turbinaria, Favites, and Platygyra) four families (Acroporidae, Agariciidae, Dendrophyllidae, Faviidae). separated symbionts host tissue investigate interaction FA between tissue. After separation, we used profiles, particular...

Previous studies document Nukuleka in the Kingdom of Tonga as a founder colony for first settlement of Polynesia by Lapita peoples. A limited number of radiocarbon dates are one line of evidence supporting this claim, but they cannot precisely establish when this event occurred, nor can they afford a detailed chronology for sequent occupation. High precision U/Th dates of Acropora coral files (...

The global rise in coral diseases has severely impacted coral reef ecosystems, yet often little is known about these diseases, including how they are transmitted. White Band Disease (WBD), for example, has caused unparalleled declines in live Acropora cover, spreading rapidly throughout the Caribbean by unknown means. Here we test four putative modes of WBD transmission to the staghorn coral Ac...

global climate to which they will have to acclimate or adapt, or else perish. Their responses to climate change will have widespread species-level and community-level consequences, and a number of ecologists have predicted changes in the composition and distribution of future ecosystems (Fields et al. 1993). The fingerprint of global climate change can be mapped via the response of species to c...

Feeding preferences of the crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci (L.), were studied in a series of laboratory-based feeding trials wherein sea stars were provided with equal availability of six different coral species. The order in which corals were consumed was then used to ascertain feeding preferences. Crown-of-thorns sea stars exhibited strong and consistent feeding preferences acros...

Coral diseases have been increasingly reported over the past few decades and are a major contributor to coral decline worldwide. The Caribbean, in particular, has been noted as a hotspot for coral disease, and the aptly named white syndromes have caused the decline of the dominant reef building corals throughout their range. White band disease (WBD) has been implicated in the dramatic loss of A...