DISEASES IN CORAL AQUACULTURE: CAUSES, IMPLICATIONS AND PREVENTIONS

摘要

In recent years it has become apparent that in addition to global climate change and other anthropogenically driven changes in water quality, diseases (whether pathogen driven or not) are important causes of coral mortality worldwide. Therefore, the causes and drivers of these disease processes and the possible ways to mitigate them have become of increasing interest. Concomitant with the rise in coral reef degradation and coral diseases, in situ and ex situ coral husbandry, both in closed and open water aquaculture systems, have been developing. Since aquaculture (including mariculture) is by definition the high-density culture of aquatic organisms, a major risk is the communicability and virulence of pathogens, which can within as little as 24 hours threaten whole production lines. Therefore, preventing initial disease outbreaks and mitigating diseases in these coral culture systems is of utmost importance.