Ecological and molecular characterization of a coral black band disease outbreak in the Red Sea during a bleaching event.

ABSTRACT: Black Band Disease (BBD) is a widely distributed and destructive coral disease that has been studied on a global scale, but baseline data on coral diseases is missing from many areas of the Arabian Seas. Here we report on the broad distribution and prevalence of BBD in the Red Sea in addition to documenting a bleaching-associated outbreak of BBD with subsequent microbial community characterization of BBD microbial mats at this reef site in the southern central Red Sea. Coral colonies with BBD were found at roughly a third of our 22 survey sites with an overall prevalence of 0.04%. Nine coral genera were infected including Astreopora, Coelastrea, Dipsastraea, Gardineroseris, Goniopora, Montipora, Pavona, Platygyra, and Psammocora. For

SUBMITTER: Hadaidi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6046197 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature