Stony coral tissue loss disease

By August 2018, the disease had spread over 150 sq mi (388 km2) of sea, and almost half the species of coral growing in the Florida Reef Tract had been affected.

A structural equation model spanning the Caribbean evinced versatility in reef fish, showing they associated with rugosity without regard for whether the coral was alive or dead.

Although the cause of the disease has not yet been established, evidence suggests that a bacterial pathogen is being transmitted either by contact or by means of water movement.

[5] A 2021 study by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Geological Survey involving electron microscopy of infected corals suggests that SCTLD may not be caused a bacterial agent as previously thought, but rather a virus that lethally affects the zooxanthellae of corals and leads to host cell death.

[12] A 2023 study developed a potential probiotic treatment for SCTLD, obtained from Pseudoalteromonas bacteria isolated from SCTLD-resistant Montastraea corals.

This may provide a more effective and efficient treatment compared to amoxicillin, which requires direct application, does not prevent reinfection, and may promote antibiotic resistance in the causal agent.

[14] The genetically distinct Florida population of pillar coral has been essentially extirpated in the wild, and now primarily survives only in captivity.