Cole, Andrew J, Chong-Seng, Karen, Pratchett, Morgan S., and Jones, Geoffrey P. (2009) Coral-feeding fishes slow progression of black-band disease. Coral Reefs, 28 (4). p. 965.

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Abstract

[Extract] Outbreaks of coral disease are a major contributor to coral mortality and subsequent reef degradation (Weil et al. 2006). One of the most common coral diseases on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is black-band disease. This disease forms a distinctive band which marks the interface between live, healthy tissue and dead coral skeleton (Fig. 1). If, as has been suggested, corallivorous fishes act as transmission vectors of disease (e.g., Aeby and Santavy 2006), they must feed directly upon the infected area. This direct feeding may actually be beneficial as it could lessen the extent and progression of the disease. In fact, it is conceivable that under intense or preferential predation on diseased tissue that the infecting agent could be removed and coral health promoted.

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