[Coral-List] MEANDRINA MEANDRITES AUTUMNAL BLEACHING CYCLE

[Etichscuba at aol.com]

MEANDRINA MEANDRITES
AUTUMNAL BLEACHING CYCLE

Meandrina meandrites (Maze Coral) colonies located on Gulf Stream Reef (26 31 
00 N, 80 02 00 W), Boynton Beach, Florida have been observed to bleach and 
recover on a predictable annual cycle.  A four year investigation (2000-2003) 
was performed to document this annual occurrence. There is sufficient data to 
suggest the M. meandrites bleaching and recovery is likely an annual occurrence, 
possibly triggered by photoperiodism. The results of this investigation are 
available on-line as a pdf file @
http://www.splashdowndivers.com/archives/Maze Bleaching.pdf

Ed Tichenor