Dear Colleagues,
As of today, bleaching in the southwest coast of Puerto Rico has been
minor and scattered over the reefs. In shallow (0-18 m), near-shore,
patch reefs and fringing reefs, the hydrocorals Millepora
complanata, M.alcicornis and
M.squarrosa, the zoanthid Palythoa
caribbaeorum and the gorgonians Briaerum
asbestinum (both the erect and crustose forms), and some
Pseudoplexauras, have few colonies that are only pale and others
completely bleached. Scleractinian corals that have started to bleach
include P.astreoides and P.porites,
agaricids like U.agaricites, U. purpurea,
A.lamarcky and L.cucullata, Acropora palmata and
A.cervicornis, Diploria labyrnthyformis, Colpophyllia natans,
Stephanocoenia intersepta and Mycetophyllia ferox. Curiously,
colonies of the same species growing one beside the other show one
completely bleached and the other with normal coloration and no signs of
stress. None of the Montastraea species have started to
bleach so far and maximum water temperatures are still under 31 Celsius
throughout the area.
Regards, EW.
Dr. Ernesto Weil
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Puerto Rico
PO BOX 908, Lajas, PR 00667
Ph: (787) 899-2048 ext. 241
Fax:(787) 899-5500