Isolation of potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian corals at the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Coral Reefs (2013) 32:3541

DOI 10.1007/s00338-012-0972-2

NOTE

Isolation of potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian corals at the Tropical Eastern Pacic

J. Barrero-Canosa L. F. Dueas J. A. Snchez

Received: 6 March 2012 / Accepted: 7 October 2012 / Published online: 20 October 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

Abstract A major environmental problem in the ocean is the alarming increase in diseases affecting diverse marine organisms including corals. Environmental factors such as the rising seawater temperatures and terrestrial microbial input to the ocean have contributed to the increase in diseased organisms. We isolated and identied the fungal agents that may be leading to a disease in the Pacic sea fan Pacigorgia eximia (Gorgoniidae, Octocorallia) in the Tropical Eastern Pacic. We isolated thirteen fungal genera in healthy and diseased colonies including Aspergillus sydowii. Aspergillus has been previously identied as responsible for the mortality of gorgonian corals in the Caribbean. This disease was observed in the Eastern Pacic affecting a completely different set of species nearly 30 years after the Caribbean outbreak, which concur with rising seawater temperatures and thermal anomalies that have been observed in the last 4 years.

Keywords Tropical Eastern Pacic Pacigorgia

Gorgonia Sea fan, gorgonian coral Fungal disease

Aspergillosis Aspergillus

Introduction

Corals, hexacorals, black corals, and octocorals are the frameworks of the most important marine ecosystems because of their diversity, tridimensional structures, and associated biota. Corals are facing a surprising degradation as a result of anthropogenic activities. Global climate change and eutrophication have contributed to a decline of marine ecosystems greater than any seen in the last millennium (McCallum et al. 2003; Harvell et al. 2007, 2009). The occurrence and severity of marine diseases have dramatically increased during the last 20 years (Altizer et al. 2003; Harvell et al. 2009). Emerging coral diseases could be related to current environmental conditions, which include high UV light, increasing water temperature, changes in nutrient availability, pollution, ocean acidication, and changes in salinity (Rosenberg and Ben-Haim 2002; Ward and Lafferty 2004). For a clear understanding on marine diseases, information on host range, in conjunction with information on the environmental drivers leading to disease, is urgently needed to comprehend the emerging appearance of diseases worldwide (Harvell et al. 2004, 2007). This study extends the geographic and taxonomic range of...