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t Poultry, Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences ISSN: 2375-446X Editorial

Brain Corals

* Arsalan Egbal Department of Zoology, University of Inuka, Jacmel, Haiti

ABOUT THE STUDY WHITE BAND DISEASE Brain coral may be a common name given to varied corals White band disease was discovered when biologists observed the within the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called thanks to peeling of tissue from colonies of elkhorn and staghorn (Acropora their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which spp.) corals in waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This tissue loss resembles a brain. Usually they are found in shallow warm water resulted during a distinct line of bare white skeleton, after which coral reefs altogether the world's oceans. They’re a part of the this disease is named. Although scientists are unsure about the Cnidaria, in a class called Anthozoa or "flower animals. Life span explanation for this disease, it's suspected that algal overgrowth of of these interesting looking organisms is 900 years and may grow the coral maybe the first cause. White band disease progresses as tall as six feet. Each stony coral is made by genetically identical from the bottom of the colony up towards the ideas of the polyps which secrete a tough exoskeleton of carbonate. This branches. Bare, white coral skeleton is left behind, colonized by makes stony coral one among the foremost important reef filamentous algae. White band disease has had a devastating builders. In feeding, these brainy corals extend their tentacles in impact on the corals within the Caribbean, with the infection of the dark, which rope in small drifting organisms. They also feed roughly half the shallow water elkhorn corals within the primary off nutrients fed to them by algae which live within their maze-like five years after this disease was first observed. White band disease walls. Within the daytime, the stony coral uses its tentacles to also devastated reefs within the key, killing 95% of all Acropora hide the grooves on its outer surface. The most common sub- species of stony coral, Favia is additionally known to use its rangy corals. Even today, the presence of this disease remains evident on tentacles aggressively, stinging its coral neighbors within the dead many reefs throughout the Caribbean. of night. The stony coral also relies on its hard shell to guard it Scientists are unsure of the cause however algae overgrowth may from severe hurricanes and lunging or overexcited large fish. be the culprit. Symptoms are tissue peels from colonies of elkhorn Corals, in particular, are susceptible to a number of diseases and staghorn corals, leaving exposed white skeleton, Bare skeleton including black band disease, white band disease, and coral is quickly colonized by filamentous algae. bleaching. CORAL BLEACHING BLACK BAND DISEASE Coral bleaching occurs through the loss of the symbiotic algae Black band disease was first described in the early 1970s as a black found in living coral tissue. These zooxanthellae are responsible band moving on the surface of star corals (Monstastrea spp.) and for giving healthy coral a brownish or greenish coloration. When brain corals (Diploria spp.). It is primarily caused by bacteria called these algae are lost, the white coloration of the underlying skeleton Phormidium corallyticum. Symptoms are black band moving across is visible through the translucent coral tissue. Partial bleaching the surface of coral colonies, leaving exposed white skeleton, may occur, resulting in only partial loss of zooxanthellae from the entire colonies could also be killed within months. Black band colony, as well as total bleaching when the entire coral colony disease occurs when corals are stressed by environmental factors appears bleach white. Bleaching is believed to be caused by including sedimentation, nutrient levels, pollution, and high stressful environmental conditions. Symptoms are Loss of water temperatures. These stressors primarily exist during the symbiotic algae leaves translucent coral tissue and Colonies appear summer months in the Florida Keys. white from the underlying skeleton.

Correspondence to: Arsalan Egbal, Department of Zoology, University of Inuka, Jacmel, Haiti, E-mail: [email protected] Received: March 04, 2021, Accepted: March 19, 2021, Published: March 26, 2021 Citation: Egbal A (2021) Brain Corals. Poult Fish Wildl Sci. 9:e113 . Copyright: © 2021 Egbal A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Poult Fish Wildl Sci, Vol.9 Iss.3 No:e113 1