Stony coral tissue loss disease

Brain coral affected by SCTLD.
Elkhorn coral seems to be immune to SCTLD.

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a disease of corals that first appeared off the southeast coast of Florida in 2014. It originally was described as white plague disease.[1] By 2019 it had spread along the Florida Keys and had appeared elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea. The disease destroys the soft tissue of at least 22 species of reef-building corals,[2] killing them within weeks or months of becoming infected. The causal agent is unknown but is suspected to be either a bacterium or a virus with a bacterium playing a secondary role. The degree of susceptibility of a coral, the symptoms, and the rate of progression of the disease vary between species.[3] Due to its rapid spread, high mortality rate, and lack of subsidence, it has been regarded as the deadliest coral disease ever recorded, with wide-ranging implications for the biodiversity of Caribbean coral reefs.[4]

  1. ^ Precht, William F.; Gintert, Brooke E.; Robbart, Martha L.; Fura, Ryan; van Woesik, Robert (2016-08-10). "Unprecedented Disease-Related Coral Mortality in Southeastern Florida". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 31374. Bibcode:2016NatSR...631374P. doi:10.1038/srep31374. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4979204. PMID 27506875.
  2. ^ Meiling, Sonora S.; Muller, Erinn M.; Lasseigne, Danielle; Rossin, Ashley; Veglia, Alex J.; MacKnight, Nicholas; Dimos, Bradford; Huntley, Naomi; Correa, Adrienne M. S.; Smith, Tyler Burton; Holstein, Daniel M. (2021). "Variable Species Responses to Experimental Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Exposure". Frontiers in Marine Science. 8. doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.670829. hdl:1912/27453. ISSN 2296-7745.
  3. ^ "Florida Reef Tract Coral Disease Outbreak: Disease". Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. NOAA. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  4. ^ Trinidad, Jewel Fraser in Port-of-Spain (2021-07-22). "Deadly coral disease sweeping Caribbean linked to water from ships". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-07.