problems in Cuban coral reef

Elena lisetag at comuh.uh.cu
Mon May 29 17:27:56 EDT 2000


"During a recent visit to the Canarreos reefs in the Punta Frances =
region of southern Cuba we were disturbed to find that many of the =
corals of these formerly-pristine reefs were badly damaged by what =
appears to be a cyanophyte infection. Some dead colonies were covered by =
algae, some showed signs of recent mortality and others are dying now. =
It is our impression that the layer of cyanophytes covers the bottom, =
the algae, the corals and the sponges. The cyanophyte is red, like the =
color of dark red wine. The only activities in the area are fishing =
(which is illegal) and sport diving".

We would like to know if a similar phenomenon has been observed =
elsewhere in the Caribbean, either now or in the past.

Elena de la Guardia Llanso
Centro de Investigaciones Marinas,=20
Universidad de la Habana





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