Staff View: Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents

Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents

Aims: The Indo-Pacific coral populations are under increasing threats from bleaching events and coral disease outbreaks. However, there is a significant gap in data and research on coral diseases in Malaysian waters. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of coral diseases and signs of compromise...

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Main Authors:	Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi, Fikri Akmal Khodzori, Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan, Nurzafirah Mazlan, Hariz Khairul Hisham, Kiu, Yee Tong, Abdul Muhaimin Zepri
Format:	Article
Language:	English English
Published:	Malaysian Society for Microbiology 2023
Subjects:	QH540-549.5 Ecology SH20.3-191 Aquaculture
Online Access:	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/1/ABSTRACT.pdf https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/ http://dx.doi.org/10.21161/mjm.230022
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spelling	my.ums.eprints.386232024-05-02T08:56:58Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/ Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi Fikri Akmal Khodzori Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan Nurzafirah Mazlan Hariz Khairul Hisham Kiu, Yee Tong Abdul Muhaimin Zepri QH540-549.5 Ecology SH20.3-191 Aquaculture Aims: The Indo-Pacific coral populations are under increasing threats from bleaching events and coral disease outbreaks. However, there is a significant gap in data and research on coral diseases in Malaysian waters. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of coral diseases and signs of compromised health at 27 reef sites in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Methodology and results: We conducted coral surveys using the Coral Video Transect (CVT) method and measured the prevalence using Coral Point Count with Excel Extension (CPCe) software. Our findings indicated that the majority of reefs appeared healthy (82.9% ± 1.8), while a smaller percentage displayed signs of disease (5.0% ± 0.6) or compromised health (12.1% ± 1.5). Reef sites exposed to higher levels of human activities exhibited a greater prevalence of coral diseases (e.g. yellow band disease, ulcerative white spots and skeletal eroding band) and signs of compromised health (e.g. sediment necrosis, skeletal damage and algal overgrowth). A total of 51 scleractinian hard coral genera were affected, with Porites and Acropora being the most predominantly affected by sediment necrosis and skeletal damage, respectively. A review of molecular approaches identified various coral pathogens, including Vibrio spp., which could potentially contribute to the occurrence of coral disease. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Unsustainable coastal development with unregulated human activities can exacerbate the severity of coral diseases and signs of compromised health. Therefore, effective management plans by relevant authorities are required to sustainably manage coral reefs in Kota Kinabalu. Malaysian Society for Microbiology 2023 Article NonPeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/1/ABSTRACT.pdf text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi and Fikri Akmal Khodzori and Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan and Nurzafirah Mazlan and Hariz Khairul Hisham and Kiu, Yee Tong and Abdul Muhaimin Zepri (2023) Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents. Malaysian Journal of Microbiology, 19. pp. 735-751. ISSN 1823-8262 http://dx.doi.org/10.21161/mjm.230022
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sabah
building	UMS Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Malaysia Sabah
content_source	UMS Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://eprints.ums.edu.my/
language	English English
topic	QH540-549.5 Ecology SH20.3-191 Aquaculture
spellingShingle	QH540-549.5 Ecology SH20.3-191 Aquaculture Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi Fikri Akmal Khodzori Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan Nurzafirah Mazlan Hariz Khairul Hisham Kiu, Yee Tong Abdul Muhaimin Zepri Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
description	Aims: The Indo-Pacific coral populations are under increasing threats from bleaching events and coral disease outbreaks. However, there is a significant gap in data and research on coral diseases in Malaysian waters. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of coral diseases and signs of compromised health at 27 reef sites in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Methodology and results: We conducted coral surveys using the Coral Video Transect (CVT) method and measured the prevalence using Coral Point Count with Excel Extension (CPCe) software. Our findings indicated that the majority of reefs appeared healthy (82.9% ± 1.8), while a smaller percentage displayed signs of disease (5.0% ± 0.6) or compromised health (12.1% ± 1.5). Reef sites exposed to higher levels of human activities exhibited a greater prevalence of coral diseases (e.g. yellow band disease, ulcerative white spots and skeletal eroding band) and signs of compromised health (e.g. sediment necrosis, skeletal damage and algal overgrowth). A total of 51 scleractinian hard coral genera were affected, with Porites and Acropora being the most predominantly affected by sediment necrosis and skeletal damage, respectively. A review of molecular approaches identified various coral pathogens, including Vibrio spp., which could potentially contribute to the occurrence of coral disease. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Unsustainable coastal development with unregulated human activities can exacerbate the severity of coral diseases and signs of compromised health. Therefore, effective management plans by relevant authorities are required to sustainably manage coral reefs in Kota Kinabalu.
format	Article
author	Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi Fikri Akmal Khodzori Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan Nurzafirah Mazlan Hariz Khairul Hisham Kiu, Yee Tong Abdul Muhaimin Zepri
author_facet	Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi Fikri Akmal Khodzori Siti Nur Hazwani Oslan Nurzafirah Mazlan Hariz Khairul Hisham Kiu, Yee Tong Abdul Muhaimin Zepri
author_sort	Aslam Nor’ashikin Zuhairi
title	Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
title_short	Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
title_full	Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
title_fullStr	Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
title_full_unstemmed	Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents
title_sort	prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of kota kinabalu: the potential of microbial and environmental agents
publisher	Malaysian Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2023
url	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/1/ABSTRACT.pdf https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/2/FULL%20TEXT.pdf https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38623/ http://dx.doi.org/10.21161/mjm.230022
_version_	1800089052443049984
score	13.211869

Prevalence of coral diseases in the coastal waters of Kota Kinabalu: The potential of microbial and environmental agents

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