Domination and Disappearance of the Black Sponge: A Quarter Century after the Initial Terpios Outbreak in Southern Japan

摘要

The encrusting cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota, reported from western-Pacific coral reefs, competes for space by encrusting reef substrata including live corals, and has been expanding its range in the northwestern Pacific Ocean (Liao et al. 2007). This species occasionally undergoes massive outbreaks which can cause considerable damage to reefs (Bryan 1973, Rützler and Muzik 1993). In Japan, the 1st outbreak was reported in 1986 at Yonama, Tokunoshima I. (Fig. 1), with up to 87.9% cover, killing most corals in the area (Marine Park Center Foundation 1986). Since then; however, very little research has been conducted on T. hoshinota, and the nature and causes of the outbreaks remain unknown.