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Words Matter: Recommendations for Clarifying Coral Disease Nomenclature and Terminology

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Words Matter: Recommendations for Clarifying Coral Disease Nomenclature and Terminology Vol. 91: 167–175, 2010 DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS Published September 2 doi: 10.3354/dao02261 Dis Aquat Org AS I SEE IT Words matter: recommendations for clarifying coral disease nomenclature and terminology C. S. Rogers* US Geological Survey, Caribbean Field Station, St. John, US Virgin Islands 00830, USA ABSTRACT: Coral diseases have caused significant losses on Caribbean reefs and are becoming a greater concern in the Pacific. Progress in coral disease research requires collaboration and commu- nication among experts from many different disciplines. The lack of consistency in the use of terms and names in the recent scientific literature reflects the absence of an authority for naming coral dis- eases, a lack of consensus on the meaning of even some of the most basic terms as they apply to corals, and imprecision in the use of descriptive words. The lack of consensus partly reflects the com- plexity of this newly emerging field of research. Establishment of a nomenclature committee under the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) could lead to more standardized definitions and could promote use of appropriate medical terminology for describing and communicating disease conditions in corals. This committee could also help to define disease terminology unique to corals where existing medical terminology is not applicable. These efforts will help scientists communicate with one another and with the general public more effectively. Scientists can immediately begin to reduce some of the confusion simply by explicitly defining the words they are using. In addition, dig- ital photographs can be posted on the CDHC website and included in publications to document the macroscopic (gross) signs of the conditions observed on coral colonies along with precisely written characterizations and descriptions. KEY WORDS: Coral · Disease · Syndrome · Nomenclature Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher INTRODUCTION terms, many from biomedical and veterinary sciences, are not always directly applicable to corals. Although Progress in coral disease research requires collabo- some of the inconsistent use of terms in the recent liter- ration and effective communication among experts ature on coral diseases is without doubt a reflection of across many different disciplines, including genetics, how little we know about them, every effort should be physiology, cell biology, ecology, pathology, microbiol- made to standardize the terminology, the procedure ogy, and epidemiology. Consensus on the meaning of for naming coral diseases, and the process for describ- the terms used to describe coral diseases, including ing gross and microscopic lesions. gross lesions and microscopic pathologies, and preci- The objective of this opinion paper is to focus greater sion in the use of these terms will facilitate effective attention on the inconsistent and often confusing use of communication among scientists and between scien- terminology and nomenclature in papers on coral dis- tists and the general public. Unfortunately, even the eases and to make specific suggestions that will help to most basic terms are not being used consistently, and address this problem. The intent is to improve commu- formal standards for disease identification and nomen- nication and highlight the need for resolution of these clature are lacking (Richardson 1998, Woodley et al. issues so that progress can be made more quickly in 2003, Raymundo et al. 2008). In addition, some of the coral disease research. As Bush et al. (1997) pointed *Email: [email protected] © Inter-Research 2010 · www.int-res.com 168 Dis Aquat Org 91: 167–175, 2010 out in their discussion of the use and misuse of ecolog- Most scientists consider coral bleaching a disease. ical terms in studies of parasite communities, effective Bleaching is often a sign of exposure to many stressors communication is paramount for scientists. They including high sea water temperature and high irradi- strongly encouraged scientists, whether or not they ance levels. Bleaching reflects the breakdown (impair- agreed with their suggestions, to define the intended ment) of symbiosis between the coral host and the meaning of terms they used. endosymbiotic zooxanthellae. In 2 coral species, bleaching has been reported to be associated with pathogenic bacteria (Kushmaro et al. 1997, Ben-Haim DEFINING DISEASE et al. 2003, Rosenberg 2004). Although bleaching cer- tainly affects corals adversely in terms of their physiol- There seems to be consensus on the definition of ogy and has an associated pathology, it seems inher- disease. Peters (1997, p. 114) states: ently different from several of the other conditions Disease is defined as any impairment (interruption, many scientists refer to as coral disease which involve cessation, proliferation, or other disorder) of vital body tissue loss. It is very common to see phrases like ‘coral functions, systems, or organs. Diseases are usually char- bleaching and disease’ in the scientific literature, acterized either by (1) an identifiable group of signs implying that they are different. Even some of the sci- (observed anomalies indicative of disease), and/or (2) a recognized etiologic or causal agent, and/or (3) consis- entists who acknowledge that bleaching is a disease tent structural alterations (e.g. developmental disorders, omit it from their comprehensive lists of identified dis- changes in cellular composition or morphology, and eases. Some refer to bacterial-induced bleaching of a tumors). few coral species, but not widespread, massive bleach- This definition is based on the medical dictionary ing over entire coral reefs, as a disease. by Stedman (1976). Recent reviews have abbreviated In the field, the external signs of bleaching and dis- this to ‘disease is an interruption, cessation or disor- eases such as white plague and black band are quite der of body functions, systems, or organs’ (Sutherland different: bleached corals are characterized by rela- et al. 2004, p. 278) or, similarly, ‘any impairment of an tively large areas (sometimes over the entire colony) of organism’s vital organ, system and/or body functions’ live tissue where loss of zooxanthellae reveals underly- (Weil 2004, p. 35). Wobeser (1981, p. 1) defines dis- ing coral skeleton, whereas both black band and white ease as plague have distinct lines of advance where tissue loss …any impairment that interferes with or modifies the has exposed coral skeleton. In addition, bleaching is performance of normal functions, including responses to reversible — i.e. corals can regain their zooxanthellae environmental factors such as nutrition, toxicants, and (or zooxanthellar pigments) and no tissue loss is climate; infectious agents; inherent or congenital defects, involved, at least initially. In contrast, conditions typi- or combinations of these factors. cally referred to as diseases are associated with loss of Woodley et al. (2008) include the following catego- coral tissue, often (although not always) with little or ries of disease: bleaching, non-infectious diseases, no subsequent regrowth or regeneration (e.g. Bruck- trauma, parasitic infections, growth anomalies, and ner & Bruckner 2006). Although scientists seem to infectious diseases. agree on the broad definition of disease (based on However, scientists studying and discussing coral Stedman 1976; see above), they do not consistently use diseases do not always use the term disease in the the word to describe conditions such as physical dam- broad sense of the definitions above from Stedman age and bleaching that would be incorporated in this (1976) and Wobeser (1981) (e.g. see p. 18 of the Coral comprehensive definition. Disease Handbook by Raymundo et al. 2008). Physical Peters’ (1997, p. 114) distinction between biotic and damage to corals from storms or vessel groundings abiotic diseases is helpful. She defines biotic diseases would fit the description of disease, but we do not refer as ‘those in which the etiologic agent is a living organ- to corals with this type of damage as diseased. (Like- ism such as a pathogen or parasite’. An abiotic disease wise, if a truck runs over someone’s foot, the person occurs after exposure to environmental stresses such would certainly be impaired but most people would as toxic chemicals or changes in salinity, temperature, not say that he or she had a disease. The word trauma sedimentation, or water quality. However, as Peters would be appropriate here.) As another example, pre- (1997) notes, some diseases have both biotic and abi- dation by snails results in tissue loss, but we do not nor- otic components. An infectious disease is a biotic dis- mally refer to areas where snails consume tissue as dis- ease in which bacteria, viruses, or other causal agents eased. The Coral Disease Handbook (Raymundo et al. can spread from one host individual to another (Peters 2008) distinguishes between tissue loss from disease 1997, Stedman 2000). A non-infectious biotic disease, and injuries from predation, disturbance (physical in contrast, can be caused by a microbial agent, but it damage), and competition. is not transmitted between organisms (Raymundo et al. Rogers: Clarifying coral disease terminology 169 2008). Many people use the term infectious to describe However, the following is from Work et al. (2008, the coral diseases of interest today, but we certainly do p. 64): not have enough data to say that the diseases we are Disease is an interruption, cessation or disorder of body observing today on coral reefs are all infectious or even functions, systems, or organs (Stedman 1976). A syn- of biotic origin. An opportunistic infection is one drome is the aggregate of signs or symptoms that ‘caused by existing microorganisms not normally path- together comprise disease (Stedman 1976). ogenic’ (Raymundo et al. 2008, p. 102). In other words, Work et al. (2008, p. 64) then conclude: under stress, corals can become more susceptible to Given this hierarchy, and given that one need not know the microorganism. Furthermore, changes in the envi- the etiology of something to call it disease, the proposal ronment can result in the microorganism becoming by Lesser et al.
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