Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute; NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

2023

Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute; NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program; MPAConnect

"Since it was first reported in Florida in 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), has now spread throughout the Wider Caribbean Region with cases in Jamaica, Mexico, Sint Maarten, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize, Sint Eustatius, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia and Honduras. SCTLD spreads rapidly and affects some of the slowest-growing and longest-lived reef-building corals, including the brain, star and pillar corals. Scientists are uncertain about the cause of the disease but it is water-borne and can be spread by contact. As the disease continues to spread throughout the Caribbean MPAConnect, a partnership between the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and NOAAs Coral Reef Conservation Program, has developed resource materials that will help with the identification, monitoring and treatment of the disease, which may be found on this webpage. Materials include informational posters, webinars, videos, guides, fact sheets, and press releases."

stony coral tissue loss disease, SCTLD, outreach, education, Caribbean, Florida

NOS

OCM

FY2022 CRCP Project ID 31366; Project Title: International Coral Disease Response Capacity Building; Principal Investigator: Dana Wusinich-Mendez

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program