Monitoring and assessment of the emerging diseases in scleractinian corals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Abstract

During the survey 1386 colonies of hard corals, belonging to 27 genera were examined to identify the occurrence of different diseases and the disease prevalence data was collected for the entire study period. The percentage occurrence of the nine major diseases, which were prevalent among the corals in the islands, was as follows: White Pox disease (12.19), White Plague (11.04), White Band (12.77), White Syndrome (17.89), Pink Spot (1.01), Dark Spot (10.25), Pink Line Syndrome (15.30), Polychaete infestation (16.23) and Crown of thorn grazing (1.23). Area- wise analysis of the disease prevalence data showed that the highest number of incidences was at Marina park (21.3%), followed by North Bay (16.13 %), Car Nicobar (13.89 %), Radhanagar Beach (13.74%), Boat Island (12.44%), Tarmugli Island (9.85%), Silver sand beach (8.07 %) and Havelock Jetty (5.63 %). Among the coral species, Acropora spp. and Porites spp. were dominantly affected. The other affected species include Platygyra spp., Gardineroseris sp., Goniastrea spp., Leptorea spp., Montipora spp., Favites spp., and Lobophyllia spp.