[Coral-List] Madagascar based NGO seeking information on suspected anemone disease

[alice grainger]

I am writing from Reef Doctor; a research, education, and conservation
organization based in south west Madagascar. We spend a lot of time in the
water conducting research and training our research volunteers and have
recently noticed an anomaly in the anemone population here in the Bay of
Ranobe. The anemones (*Heteractis magnifica) *appear to have been exposed to
either a disease or an environmental stressor (sudden temperature increase,
changes in salinity/acidity) which is causing tentacles to discolor
(becoming darker and blueish) and deflate (flattening out). In the most
severe cases this seems to have resulted 100% mortality of the anemone, with
others showing anywhere between 5 - 50% * *of tentacles affected.
Images can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alicetgrainger/AnemoneAnomaly#
After extensive research on the internet, our science team is still at a
loss as to what might be causing this. We have tagged the affected anemones
to monitor their progress, however we are currently searching for
specialists who might be able to provide us with a lead.

Many thanks for your attention.

Best Regards,

Alice Grainger

Dive Officer
www.reefdoctor.org