TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP MARCH 10-13, 2000   Correlation of Predation with Diseases and Tumors in Hawaiian Corals     Cynthia L. Hunter   Waikiki Aquarium, University of Hawaii, 2777 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI  96815             Although many reef areas in Florida and the Caribbean have suffered losses  in living coral over the last two decades as a result of disease epidemics, no outbreaks of such magnitude have yet been recorded in the Pacific.  An outbreak of black band disease at Looe Key, Florida, in 1986 was found to be associated with high temperatures, eutrophication, and sedimentation (Santavy and Peters 1997).  However, outbreaks of other diseases to date do not appear to be consistently ascribable to known anthropogenic stressors (e.g. pollutants, proximity to urban centers, global warming).  Background rates of tissue loss as a result of disease (i.e. non-outbreak occurrence levels) and their relationship to subsequent phase shifts are currently unknown for any reef ecosystem.  At least three types of disease have been identified and commonly occur on Hawaiian reefs (Hunter and Peters 1992, Hunter 1994).  Often, such disease is preceded by injury or tissue damage from a suite of common predators:  parrotfish, blennies, puffers, damselfish, butterflyfish, and various invertebrates--most notably crown-of-thorns seastars.  Necrotic coral tissue can be rapidly invaded by fine filamentous (turf) algae and cyanobacteria.  There appear to be three resultant outcomes of this  invasion 1) a successional change from turf to crustose coralline algae on which new coral recruits may become established, 2) recovery and overgrowth by healthy, adjacent coral tissues, or 3) persistence of the turf community and a profound change from coral to algal domination of the affected colonies.  It is of critical importance to determine the biotic and abiotic factors that control these outcomes.            Return to 25th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page