[Coral-List] International Registry of Coral Pathology

[Shawn Mclaughlin]

Dear Coral-Listers,

An International Registry of Coral Pathology (IRCP) has been established
by NOAA at the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory in Oxford, Maryland, USA in
affiliation with Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) to help
advance the understanding and interpretation of health and disease in
corals.  IRCP is endeavoring to expand the application of histopathology
to coral disease investigations by developing a centralized repository
for coral tissues, a microscope slide reference collection, and a
web-accessible database.  These unique resources provide coral
researchers the opportunity to routinely apply histopathology techniques
to new coral health investigations and to examine tissues and related
data collected in earlier investigations by other researchers.   The
repository of slides, tissue blocks, fixed tissues, and related
photographs will be made available to interested researchers for study
and teaching purposes.   A catalogue of accessions, a comprehensive
coral pathology bibliography, and a collection of related reprints
(http://mrl.cofc.edu/oxford/) are being assembled.  IRCP is currently
soliciting accessions representative of pathology, normality, and
abnormality in corals and invites you to consider submitting your
slides, blocks, or tissues for inclusion in the archives.  Diagnosis of
contributed specimens is made by panels of pathologists, coral
biologists, and medical and veterinary experts in the CDHC with the goal
of establishing a consensus on diagnostic criteria for specific coral
diseases.  IRCP will provide fixatives, containers, shipping, and
histology services for researchers interested in collaborative
investigations to expand IRCP archives.  Prior to shipping specimens,
please contact Shawn.McLaughlin at noaa.gov or Kathy.Price at noaa.gov for
submission form, collection and shipping protocols and additional
guidelines (i.e., permitting requirements, CITES).

Thank you,
Shawn M. McLaughlin, PhD
Curator, International Registry of Coral Pathology
NOAA/National Ocean Service
NCCOS/CCEHBR/Cooperative Oxford Laboratory
904 S. Morris St.
Oxford, MD  21654
Phone:  410-226-5193
FAX:  410-226-5925