Bleaching affects aquarium corals, too

Date:
June 29, 2020
Source:
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Summary:
A world-first study examines the temperature thresholds of
Australian aquarium corals and finds they are at risk under
climate change.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new study illustrates the potential impact of recurrent heatwaves on
coral species collected by the Australian aquarium coral industry.


==========================================================================
The study's lead author, Professor Morgan Pratchett from the ARC Centre
of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE
at JCU), says there are active and expanding aquarium coral fisheries
operating across the country in Western Australia, the Northern Territory
and Queensland.

"With widespread coral bleaching again affecting the Great Barrier
Reef, and also occurring on coral reefs in Western Australia, there is inevitable concern regarding the sustainability and defensibility of
ongoing coral harvesting," Prof Pratchett said.

Prior to the study, scientists didn't know much about the temperature sensitivity and bleaching susceptibility of Australian aquarium corals.

The researchers tested these parameters on six of the most important
exported coral species from Australia.

"We found two of the most striking species were particularly susceptible
and died at the temperatures you would expect when bleaching occurs,"
Prof Pratchett said.



========================================================================== "These corals are most abundant within the nearshore habitats of the
southern Great Barrier Reef -- an area that bleached earlier this year."
One of these species is the Australian saucer coral (Homophyllia
australis), found just off the coast of Mackay.

With the worldwide demand for Australian aquarium corals increasing,
a single aquarium specimen of Homophyllia australis fetched more than
$8,000 AUD in Japan in 2017.

The study found the other, more widespread, aquarium corals were able
to cope with higher temperatures. They bleached but didn't die -- the
corals are already regularly exposed to extreme temperatures in a wide
variety of different environments, including shallow tidal pools in
north Western Australia.

"Understanding the differential susceptibilities of different coral
species to environmental change is a very important aspect of managing
coral fisheries," Prof Pratchett said.

Australian coral fisheries are often the first to provide reports of coral bleaching across diverse reef environments, as they need to respond to
changes in coral health.

"Those in the industry don't collect bleached corals and actively
avoid areas where there has been recent and severe mass bleaching,"
Prof Pratchett said.

He said the study, which was supported by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, highlights the need for more specific and
targeted in- situ monitoring for these popular aquarium corals.

This is especially crucial with the increasing threat posed by ongoing environmental change.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by ARC_Centre_of_Excellence_for_Coral_Reef_Studies. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Morgan S. Pratchett, Ciemon F. Caballes, Stephen J. Newman, Shaun K.

Wilson, Vanessa Messmer, Deborah J. Pratchett. Bleaching
susceptibility of aquarium corals collected across northern
Australia. Coral Reefs, 2020; DOI: 10.1007/s00338-020-01939-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629120131.htm

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