Coral Line by: Liz & Adrian Smith
Coral Type: Branching
Coral species: Acropora nasuta
Mortality explanation at 3 months: One of the main issues with reef restoration projects: This line was infected quite badly with a condition known as White Syndrome. This is a coral disease likely caused by a suite of microorganisms, which eat away at the coral tissue. Unfortunately with this line, half the corals fell victim to this infection however, it appears to have gone now and the remaining corals are growing well. A few of our lines were affected quite badly by this, and we are currently working on a report to publish on this site for your information.
2 yr update: We are sorry to report that this was one of the lines which died during the El Nino event of 2016. Whilst the coral was plagued by disease last year, it recovered well. Unfortunately the remaining colonies (which were quite large!) then bleached and died during the warming period in April 2016. To learn more about bleaching see our new bleaching page. Interestingly, the same species survived well on line 031 throughout the bleaching and we encourage you to have a look at that page. As scientists we find it fascinating that some genotypes (same species, different genetics) are much better adapted to cope with certain changes in condition, and whilst this line has died, it’s data will be used in our research. This is natural selection happening in front of our eyes – this line cannot cope with increased temperatures and so its genetic line is now finished. Line 031 can cope, and it will continue to grow and re-seed our damaged reef, and hopefully make our reef more resilient against future temperature anomalies. For any questions or if you wish us to plant you a new line, please email me on [email protected]
