[Coral-List] Circular patches on Millepora

[Stephan Moldzio]

Dear Listers,


during our recent Reef Check Surveys in Red Sea Egypt we´ve observed some circular patches on a Millepora.
We have sent these pics to some experts, but we don´t have a completely satisfying explanation so far.
Maybe somebody can help? 



Possible explanations so far:
-         Feeding scars Coralliophila (but where are they??? And why Millepora instead of Porites?)
-          Feeding scars baby COTS? (COTS tend to create paths instead of single blotches?)
-         Some kind of Coral Disease? 
-         Anomaly of Millepora (sometimes Millepora forms "tissue bubbles" at branches as well as "bleached" small areas. But we have not seen these perfectly round patches so far...)


You can watch the pics here:
http://reefcheck.de/de/news-und-events/neues-von-reef-check/329-millepora-lesions 


We would be happy if you could send your opinion to my email adress. Thanks!


Best regards,
Stephan Moldzio




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Biologische Meereskunde & Meeresaquaristik
Dipl. biol. Stephan Moldzio
Eschenburgstr. 6
38106 Braunschweig
Tel.: +49 531 / 81482
mobil: +49 151 / 12721681