Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Detected In Belize Reefs For 1st Time; Showed Up In Florida IN 2014
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Corals, like humans, sometimes get sick. But stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is different, researchers say. It afflicts an unprecedented number of species, has spread over a vast area, and kills incredibly quickly. Massive coral colonies, some hundreds of years old, can die within weeks or months, leaving reefs unrecognizable. Miraculously, Laughing Bird Caye had, until now, been spared. The tiny island sits landward from Belize’s main barrier reef, separated by deep channels, and the team had hoped against hope that this might offer some protection. “We’ve been in mourning for two days, because even though you know it’s coming, it’s really devastating,” Carne says.
As the disease continues to spread, and becomes endemic in parts of the Caribbean, researchers are mounting new efforts to figure out what is causing it — and what can be done to treat it. SCTLD is a novel disease that was first detected in the U.S. state of Florida in 2014. It affects a group called the stony corals, whose hard calcium carbonate skeletons build the reef structure. More than 30 species, about half of all Caribbean reef-building coral species, are affected. In the most susceptible species, mortality can be as high as 90%.
Researchers still don’t know exactly what causes SCTLD, but believe it’s a very complex disease, says Blake Ushijima, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. They know it’s transmitted via direct contact and through the water column, that it causes a breakdown in the symbiosis between coral and algae, and, because the disease responds to antibiotics, that pathogenic bacteria are involved, Ushijima says. But they don’t know if those bacteria are the cause of the initial infection, or just making things worse. “The big part that’s really hard is, because we don’t know what the agent is that’s causing [SCTLD], we don’t know what to look for,” Ushijima says. “That’s kind of where we’re stuck. It’s this repeated thing.”
The Mesoamerican Reef runs 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Mexico, through Belize and Guatemala, and into Honduras. It’s the second largest barrier reef in the world and of incalculable value for communities: as habitat for fish, for storm protection, tourism, cultural value, and more. “It’s one of the heartbeats of our country,” says Raphael Martinez, Belize coordinator for Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, a nonprofit that works throughout the Mesoamerican Reef. SCTLD was first detected within the Mesoamerican Reef ecosystem in July 2018, in Puerto Morales, Mexico, one of the first sightings outside Florida. The scale of the outbreak was like nothing seen before, says Mélina Soto, Mexico coordinator at Healthy Reefs for Healthy People.
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https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/researchers-race-to-understand-new-disease-killing-caribbean-corals-at-unprecedented-rates/