[Coral-List] Cyclic and fatal bleaching of giant barrel sponges
Pawlik, Joseph
pawlikj at uncw.edu
Thu Aug 4 09:33:17 EDT 2005
Greetings Coral-listers and Porifera-listers,
Regarding the recent postings about bleaching of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta, in the Caribbean, our group has been monitoring bleaching of this sponge on reefs off of Key Largo since 1997 with funding and facilities support from NURP/UNCW. We now have data for 626 individually tagged sponges, with over 5,700 digital images. The population structure and levels of bleaching in Key Largo are similar to those we have observed throughout the Bahamas on reefs that are far from human impacts. Cyclic bleaching is very common, not fatal, and probably not a "disease". Fatal bleaching is rare, easily mistaken for cyclic bleaching, and usually associated with "sponge orange band" (SOB) syndrome, which may involve a pathogen. Cyclic and fatal bleaching appear to be distinct phenomena. We will be publishing our findings in a year or two, but until then, we have some general information at this web site, including photos:
http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/xmuta.html
Both cyclic and fatal bleaching appear to be Caribbean-wide, and have existed since at least the late 1980s. If you have seen other kinds of mortality of Xestospongia muta , please contact me.
Thanks!
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Joseph R. Pawlik, Professor
2003-2005: Associate Program Director
Biological Oceanography Program
Suite 725
National Science Foundation
Arlington, VA 22230
voice:(703)292-7583
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UNCW Center for Marine Science
5600 Marvin K Moss Ln
Wilmington, NC 28409 USA
pawlikj at uncw.edu; (910)962-2377 FAX: (910)962-2410
Website: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html
PDFs: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html
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