Fast Moving Coral Disease Alert on Bonaire

[CT Sean]

Hopefully it helps. I have been watching the Harbour Village live webcam on YouTube and have seen how rapidly it overtook the brain coral.

I watched that coral die as well. There's now quite a few corals that are bleaching in view of that cam. Seems like an excellent place to test the antibiotic treatment since it can be monitored constantly

 

[scubbq]

Effectiveness of topical antibiotics in treating corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has led to mass mortality of the majority of hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Following the successful treatment of SCTLD lesions on laboratory corals using water dosed with antibiotics, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

PubMed Central Image Viewer.

 

[scuba127]

They are using the antibiotic paste.

 

[deeper thoughts]

They are using the antibiotic paste.

Here in the keys it worked on a limited basis and no real way to apply it on a larger scale per the scientists

 

[tarponchik]

if this is bacteria, which very likely this is, you won't be able to make enough antibiotic to deal with it. What it needs is a bacteriophage.

 

[drrich2]

What is the thinking behind the antibiotic paste? Yes, it may be protective while it's on there, but it'd have to be consistently reapplied perpetually; otherwise the coral dies in a few months instead of now. Or next year. Etc...

In humans, beating down an infection temporarily makes more sense; it offers the immune system more time to mount an effective response. I haven't heard of that in corals.

Are the people putting out antibiotic paste doing serial reapplication to maintain specific treated corals? Not just in Bonaire, but elsewhere?

 

[scubadada]

Hi @drrich2

My impression is that the antibiotic is applied in some form of epoxy to the advancing border of infection. It remains in place and is designed to arrest the continued spread to uninfected coral by leaching out antibiotic at the site. This would not last forever but hopefully long enough the active infection burns out, leaving some healthy coral.

Personally, I have not seen longer term results, but, have not really looked. If others know more about this, please share with us.

 

[dmaziuk]

if this is bacteria, which very likely this is, you won't be able to make enough antibiotic to deal with it. What it needs is a bacteriophage.

And what could possibly go wrong, right?

 

[tursiops]

Personally, I have not seen longer term results, but, have not really looked. If others know more about this, please share with us.

Antibiotic Treatment Ameliorates the Impact of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) on Coral Communities

Stony coral tissue loss disease has spread widely in the Caribbean and causes substantial changes to coral community composition because of its broad host range and high fatality rate. To reduce SCTLD impacts, intervention programs throughout the region have divers treating corals with...

www.frontiersin.org

 

[rmorgan]

Effectiveness of topical antibiotics in treating corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has led to mass mortality of the majority of hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Following the successful treatment of SCTLD lesions on laboratory corals using water dosed with antibiotics, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

“Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has led to mass mortality of the majority of hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Following the successful treatment of SCTLD lesions on laboratory corals using water dosed with antibiotics, two topical pastes were developed as vehicles to directly apply antibiotic treatments to wild corals. These pastes were tested as placebos and with additions of amoxicillin on active SCTLD lesions on multiple coral species. The effectiveness of the pastes without antibiotics (placebo treatments) was 4% and 9%, no different from untreated controls. Adding amoxicillin to both pastes significantly increased effectiveness to 70% and 84%. Effectiveness with this method was seen across five different coral species, with success rates of the more effective paste ranging from 67% (Colpophyllia natans) to 90% (Orbicella faveolata and Montastraea cavernosa). Topical antibiotic application is a viable and effective tool for halting disease lesions on corals affected by SCTLD.”