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Uncharismatic Fact of the Day
Pillar corals look soft and fuzzy, but that fuzz has a purpose! Unlike most hard corals, pillar corals keep the tentacles in their polyps extended to catch plankton in the water. This provides an important supplement to the nutrition they get from the photosynthetic algae that lives in their cells.
(Image: Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) by FWC Fish and Wildlife Services)
Two colored star coral (Dipsastraea speciosa) in Pulau Bangka, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
by scubaluna
Boulder Star Coral Fiber Art
Orbicella annularis, or the boulder star coral, is a type of reef building coral that lives in the Caribbean Sea. As the individual coral polyps fuse their calcium carbonate skeletons together, they create beautiful lobed colonies. Boulder star corals are extremely important to reef ecology. The meandering, intricate structure of each coral colony provide habitat necessary for a variety of marine life. O. annularis also acts as a nursery to shelter young fish. The large structures formed by boulder star corals even prevent coastal erosion by absorbing storm waves. Unfortunately, O. annularis is an endangered species. These corals are threatened by pollution, fisheries, and rising ocean temperatures.
This beaded crochet piece features a colony of boulder star coral polyps accompanied by an assortment of crochet sea sponges. I decided to crochet the coral using textured green wool to create the irregular, undulated surface reminiscent of boulder star corals at home in the Caribbean. On top of this base, I used sage green thread to embroider delicate, flower-like polyps amongst the wool lobes. At the center of each little polyp is a variety of golden glass beads to highlight individual coral animals. The clusters of white and beige sea sponges represent one example of how Orbicella annularis supports biodiversity by providing habitat.
Stony corals serve as the centerpiece of a rich and diverse ecosystem, which is why their recent behavior has scientists concerned.
Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:
Stony corals provide habitat for an eye-popping one-fourth of the ocean's species. They serve as the centerpiece of a rich and diverse ecosystem, which is why their recent behavior has scientists concerned. New research shows that stony corals around the world are hunkering down into survival mode as they prepare for a mass extinction event, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports.
The international research team was composed of scientists from New York, California, Israel, England and Germany. They noticed a suite of behaviors that correspond to a survival response commensurate with how they behaved during the last mass extinction 66 million years ago, according to the new study.
"When we finally put all this together and saw the result, for me it was that moment when the hair on the back of your neck stands up," said marine biologist David Gruber, from The City University of New York, to Newsweek. "It was like, Oh my goodness, [the corals] are doing exactly what they did back then."
The researchers had a rich-history of corals to compare with modern species. Coral skeletons leave an indelible, time-stamped fossil record for scientists to examine the conditions that led to their dying. The scientists were able to compare those fossils with the 839 coral species on the red list of threatened species recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as Newsweek reported.
The scientists looked at the traits of corals that survived the last major extinction event. They found that the colorful, wavy corals that attract scuba divers did not last. The ones that did survive are the ones that form small colonies and seek out deep water, which are the same ones showing signs of thriving today, as Newsweek reported.
"It was incredibly spooky to witness how corals are now exhibiting the same traits as they did at the last major extinction event," said Gruber, in a statement put out by the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. "Corals seem to be preparing to jump across an extinction boundary, while we are putting our foot further on the pedal."
Scientists are racing to learn what’s behind a disease that’s “annihilating” whole coral species in hopes of stopping it.
Divers monitoring coral reefs off St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in January noticed something alarming: Big white lesions were eating into the colorful tissues of hundreds of stony corals. Some corals were dead by the next day — only their stark white skeletons remained. Others languished for up to two weeks. Within four months, more than half of the reef suffered the same demise.
What’s killing the corals is far from clear, but the prime suspect is stony coral tissue loss disease, sometimes referred to by its initials SCTLD or by the nickname “skittle-D.” This infection, discovered off Florida in 2014, is responsible for what some scientists consider one of the deadliest coral disease outbreaks on record.
In the Caribbean, the disease is now ravaging about a third of the region’s 65 reef-building species, scientists estimate. Yet researchers aren’t even sure if the disease is viral, bacterial or some other microbial mix. Whatever the cause, “it’s annihilating whole species,” says coral ecologist Marilyn Brandt, who is leading a science team trying to tackle the outbreak from multiple research angles.
Past outbreaks of other coral diseases near St. Thomas have cut coral cover by up to 50 percent over a year, says Brandt, of the University of the Virgin Islands. But this new disease has done the same amount of damage in half that time — spreading faster and killing more corals than any past outbreaks in the area.
“It marches along the reef and rarely leaves corals behind,” Brandt says. “We’re pretty scared.”
Melt away
Stony coral tissue loss disease can kill corals in a matter of days or weeks. Here, a lesion eats away at coral tissue over six weeks. CREDIT: SONORA MEILING
A disease hot spot
Coral reefs occupy less than 2 percent of the ocean floor. But they play a crucial role in the ecosystem, sustaining an estimated quarter of marine species. Sometimes mistaken for rocks or plants, corals are actually collectives of coral polyps, tiny invertebrates that get sick just like any other animal. Corals sometimes succumb to deadly plagues. Other times, they can shake off milder maladies akin to a common cold.
Since the first coral disease was documented in the 1970s in the Caribbean, researchers have identified dozens more around the world, with the Caribbean now considered a coral disease hot spot. But scientists still know little about these illnesses and how they work. Many marine microbes don’t grow well in petri dishes and test tubes, so studying coral diseases is tough, Brandt says.
Even the names given to the diseases are vague, based only on the visual cues of an infection, such as yellow-band disease, dark-spot syndrome and white plague. And it doesn’t help that many look similar. Stony coral tissue loss disease, which first attacks brain corals before moving on to other stony corals, was initially mistaken for white plague.
Coral Canyons Wall Dive - Identification Guide
I went through and marked off everything I included in my Coral Canyons plank! All the fish, corals, sponges, and invertebrates depicted are as accurate as my field guide, memory, and penmanship allowed for. Click through to see the whole list of 50 creatures that make up this plank (not counting our lucky diver)
Elkhorn Coral Acropora palmata
Uncharismatic Fact of the Day
Who doesn't love bubbles? Plerogyra sinuosa is more commonly known as the bubble coral due to its uniquely shaped appendages called polyps. During the day they inflate, resembling large bubbles or fish eggs, which allows the dinoflagellates living inside it to photosynthesize. At night the polyps deflate and collect plankton from the surrounding water.
(Image: A bubble coral (Plerogyra sinuosa) by Diego Delso)
