Coral affected by stony coral tissue loss disease can produce viable offspring

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2023-07, Vol.11, p.e15519-e15519, Article e15519
• Main Authors: Mendoza Quiroz, Sandra, Tecalco Renteria, Raúl, Ramírez Tapia, Gandhi Germán, Miller, Margaret W, Grosso-Becerra, Maria Victoria, Banaszak, Anastazia T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brain coral; Conservation Biology; Coral recruits; Development and progression; Developmental Biology; Disease transmission; Fertilization; Health aspects; Marine Biology; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mexican Caribbean; Mexico; Mortality; Population Biology; Pseudodiploria strigosa; Settlement
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15519

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has caused high mortality of at least 25 coral species across the Caribbean, with being the second most affected species in the Mexican Caribbean. The resulting decreased abundance and colony density reduces the fertilization potential of SCTLD-susceptible species. Therefore, larval-based restoration could be of great benefit, though precautionary concerns about disease transmission may foster reluctance to implement this approach with SCTLD-susceptible species. We evaluated the performance of offspring obtained by crossing gametes of a healthy colony (100% apparently healthy tissue) with that of a colony affected by SCTLD (>50% tissue loss) and compared these with prior crosses between healthy parents. Fertilization and settlement were as high as prior crosses among healthy parents, and post-settlement survivorship over a year in outdoor tanks was 7.8%. After thirteen months, the diseased-parent recruits were outplanted to a degraded reef. Their survivorship was ∼44% and their growth rate was 0.365 mm ± 1.29 SD per month. This study shows that even diseased parent colonies can be effective in assisted sexual reproduction for the restoration of species affected by SCTLD.