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Dataset
Data for: Pathological drivers of coral diseases across the Arabian Peninsula, 2015 to 2018
U.S. Geological Survey
2025
Metrics
1 Record Views
Abstract
Increasing trends of coral mortality is a challenge to coral reef management worldwide, and a need exists to identify the causes and pathways involved. Pathology is useful to help decipher potential causes of mortality in animals, because it illuminates agents associated with lesions and gives insights on the nature of how a host responds to said agents. To better understand the nature of threats facing corals in the Arabian Peninsula, we performed gross and microscopic pathology on corals from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. Among 321 coral fragments examined from 21 genera, tissue loss was the most common lesion seen in 31% of samples, reflecting its widespread presence on reefs from the Arabian Peninsula. Histologically, 68% of lesions exhibited necrosis, predominantly in the basal body wall and surface body wall. Endolithic filamentous microalgae and sponges, originating from the skeleton, were associated with 57% and 39% of lesions respectively, and were often linked to necrosis and hyaline membrane formation. Cell-associated microbial aggregates and coccidia were detected mainly in Acropora, Pocillopora, and Porites but were not associated with adverse host response. Notably, 69-100% of fragments showing lesions were female likely reflecting temporal reproductive life history of corals in the region. Our findings highlight endolithic organisms as major contributors to coral tissue degradation in the Arabian Peninsula.
Details
- Title
- Data for: Pathological drivers of coral diseases across the Arabian Peninsula, 2015 to 2018
- Creators
- Thierry M Work - National Wildlife Health CenterGreta Aeby - Qatar UniversityDavid Abrego - Southern Cross UniversityJessica Bouwmeester - Red Sea Global (Saudi Arabia)Emily Howells - Southern Cross UniversityPedro Range - Qatar UniversityMaren Ziegler - Justus-Liebig-Universität GießenThor Jensen - King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyAmanda Shore - State University of New York (USA, New York)Grace Vaughan - University College DublinJohn Burt - New York University Abu DhabiChristian Voolstra - University of KonstanzRadhouan Ben-Hamadou - Qatar Foundation
- Publisher
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Identifiers
- 991013337086402368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; National Marine Science Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dataset