Evidence of possible yellow band disease around Bani Farur Island
Rezai, H.1 and Kabiri, K.2
1Darya Negar Pars Consulting Engineers
2Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences
During a general survey of corals around Bani Farur Island in early November 2016, the Yellow Band (YB) was observed on Poritiid (Fig. 1) corals at approximately 5 meter depth. The YB in Bani Farur did not extend a wide area and it was only observed in an isolated place northwest of the island. The YB forms a bright band of several centimeters in diameter. The YB has a mucous cover which is slimy to touch. There is no filaments line in the black band.
As the island has prolific hard coral coverage and is far from any source of pollution, it remains to be seen the cause and effect of yellow band on these corals. Yellow Band Disease in the Persian Gulf was first described by Korrubel and Riegl (1998) from reefs near Jebel Ali in Dubai. The disease is active in all seasons (Riegl et al., 2012); it is the most common disease on coral in the Persian Gulf. The disease can be readily transmitted among certain corals, suggesting a prevalence of a microbial agent as the cause (Riegl et al., 2012). The occurrence of coral diseases has been found to correlate with ocean heat and coral disease outbreaks in the aftermath of bleaching events have been widely reported (Brandt and McManus, 2009).
Fig. 1. Yellow band on Porites corals.
References
- Brandt, M.E. and McManus, J.W. 2009. Disease incidence is related to bleaching extent in reef-building corals. Ecology, 90: 2859–2867.
- Korruble, J. and Riegl, B. 1998. A new coral disease from the Persian Gulf. Coral Reefs, 17 (1): 35.
- Riegl, B., Buckner, A.W., Samimi Namin, K. and Purkis, S.J. 2012. Diseases, harmful algal bloom (HABs) and their effects on Gulf coral populations and communities. In: Coral Reefs of the Gulf. Vol. 3, pp. 107-125.