Coral

Scientists from Queensland Museum (QM), University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia completed a 21-day trip from the Capricorn Bunkers off Gladstone to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait late last year. Scientists discovered dozens of new coral species on a recent voyage along the length of the Great Barrier Reef.

“On almost every dive we were finding species that aren’t in the books"

Professor Andrew Baird, James Cook University

In some tropical waters like the Florida Keys mangrove forests, for snorkellers to stay safe, it’s not enough to not touch anything. It may not be a good idea to enter the water in the first place.

That’s because sometimes it seems that the water itself can sting, causing rashes on a snorkeller's skin.

The real culprit is not some mutant strain of water molecules. Rather, it is a species of upside-down jellyfish that lives on the ocean floor. Called Cassiopea xamachana, this jellyfish can also be found in places like the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Mediterranean species such as red coral, with a hard and striking red skeleton, is key for formations of encrusting corals and algae, as it gives it physical structure, increases its complexity and serves as protection for several species, which feed on the coralligenous habitat.

Photographic evidence has been posted on Facebook showing that names have been carved into coral at Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida, and it has enraged social media users.

What’s wrong with some people? Seriously, do they need to scratch their name on this beautiful coral. Unbelievable!

It is thought that tourists are responsible. The Bali Sun stated that one post observed “how can you be so stupid?”

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered that when fishermen selectively catch large and medium-sized parrotfish at coral reefs facing decline due to climate change, algae has a better chance of growing and overtaking the corals.

Nonetheless, according to the research, the reef’s biomass is maintained. This is because even with less of the large and medium-sized parrotfish, there would be many smaller parrotfish that would take their place.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Centro de Investigaciones Marinas—Universidad de La Habana (CIM-UH) have discovered that offshore coral reefs that are also protected tend to be healthier than nearshore ones.

In the study, seawater from 25 reefs in Cuba and the Florida Keys in the US were tested for nutrients and other parameters that would give researchers a glimpse into the microbial community present.

When investigating whether corals that split their spawning over multiple months are more successful at spreading their offspring across different reefs, researchers discovered that split spawning can indeed improve the coral reef's resilience.

The findings of the study was published in the Nature Communications journal recently.

This sounds simple enough, but not when one considers that the reef - the third largest coral reef in the world - measures nearly 150 miles long and four miles wide. The question of where to place the new corals comes into play.

Enter biology professor Robert van Woesik, from Florida Institute of Technology.

Armed with a US$205,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, he and his team are working to identify the habitats and localities in the reef tract that offer optimal conditions for coral survival.

Antioxidant capacity is a critical component of stress tolerance because in a range of organisms, including corals, stressors such as high water temperature, poor water quality and even pathogen infection, produce an increase in damaging, highly reactive oxygen molecules (free radicals) inside the tissues.

The ability to tolerate environmental stress varies between individuals, so the team associated with the Australian Institute of Marine Science set out to find the most stress-tolerant of the common reef-building coral Acropora millepora.