28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Coral Reef Health In The Pacific Ocean - Results From Recent Surveys Thierry M. Work1, Robert A. Rameyer1, Steve Coles2 1United States Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Hawaii Field Station, PO Box 50167, Honolulu, HI 96850; 2Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu, HI 96817 Coral reefs provide the structure that underpins coastal tropical marine ecosystems.  Corals serve as nurseries and shelter for a variety of marine life, provide nourishment for many marine organisms, and serve as a significant source of income to adjacent communities.  In the Western Atlantic, Caribbean reefs have suffered major declines due to disease.  In the Pacific, little is known about the status of coral disease, in part, because few people have looked and because diagnostic capability to assess disease in these organisms is lacking.  We began to address coral disease by conducting baseline surveys to systematically document lesions in the major species of corals encountered in Hawaii and the Central Pacific.  To date, we have conducted surveys in the Hawaiian Islands, Johnston Atoll and American Samoa.  Gross lesions encountered in corals include growth anomalies, bleaching, and tissue necrosis.  Our surveys indicated that a given gross lesion may have multiple histopathologic diagnoses including infiltration by algae, infection with ciliates and protozoa, and tissue necrosis of undetermined origin.  Our studies have also revealed that (1) there is a clear need to develop a standardized system of nomenclature for gross lesions in corals that is easily transportable from one habitat to the other, (2) laboratory assays to assess coral health are lacking or are in their infancy and 3) methods to assess disease on a broad spatial scale are needed.    While epizootic disease, as found in the Western Atlantic, is not present in the Pacific, it will be critical to develop the aforementioned tools if we are to effectively assist managers identify the cause and potential management actions for coral diseases. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page