28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Announcing A Reexamination Of Coral Skeletal Anomalies Esther C. Peters1, Marilyn J. Wolfe2, Jeffrey C. Wolf2, Phyllis M. Spero2 1Tetra Tech, Inc., 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340, Fairfax, VA 22030; 2Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals, Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc., 22866 Shaw Rd., Sterling, VA 20166 The Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals (RTLA), which is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, is a collection of more than 7,400 accessions of neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases in cold-blooded vertebrates and invertebrates.  The RTLA was recently transferred from George Washington University to Experimental Pathology Laboratories in Sterling, Virginia, and is being updated to include renovation of the electronic database and creation of a web site to permit searches of case materials and interactive participation in case diagnosis, as well as to serve as a forum for collaboration among scientists.  Continuing the RTLA’s tradition of participating in collaborative research, a study is being developed to reexamine various types of calcified skeletal anomalies of scleractinian corals.  These anomalies are characterized by changes in morphological features (e.g., shape, size of skeletal elements, color of tissue) in comparison to the surrounding skeleton and tissue.  Some of these lesions can be caused by parasites and others appeared to be neoplastic or non-neoplastic proliferations of cells that produced the skeleton (calicoblasts).  Only a few specimens have been examined histologically and new discoveries of such lesions indicated that the proliferating cell types might be different from the calicoblastic epithelial cells that were associated with one previously described morphotype. The apparent increase in reports of these cellular proliferative lesions suggests that globally or locally changing environmental conditions might be contributing to their formation, perhaps by causing changes in genes that control different aspects of the cell cycle.  A group of collaborators has been formed to evaluate diverse lesions from the RTLA, the International Registry of Coral Pathology, the National Wildlife Health Center, and other sources, by histopathological examinations of decalcified and undecalcified samples.  Individual assessments and group discussions should lead to an improved understanding of these lesions, a review and atlas of the cellular changes associated with each morphotype, and an updated map of the occurrence of these skeletal anomalies for ecological and genetic studies. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page