{"id":3290,"date":"2012-01-16T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=3290"},"modified":"2021-05-20T14:06:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T00:06:57","slug":"coral-growth-anomalies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2012\/01\/16\/coral-growth-anomalies\/","title":{"rendered":"Coral growth anomalies affect biological function"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Type A, left, and Type B growth anomalies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Student Makani Gregg with Misaki Takabayashi, center, and John Burns at Waiʻōpae<\/span> tide pools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two easily discernible types of growth anomalies have been observed on rice coral in Hawaiʻi<\/span>.<\/p>\n

In both types, lesions develop into pale protuberant masses, but Type A looks something like a scoop of cottage cheese while Type B appears more like a ball of mozzarella.<\/p>\n

Marine scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> wanted to know if the differing morphology indicates underlying differences in the affected tissues and whether they affect the corals’ biological functions.<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Misaki Takabayashi<\/strong> and John H. R. Burns<\/strong>, a Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science<\/a> Program master’s candidate sampled rice corals, or Montipora capitata<\/em>, from Waiʻōpae<\/span> tide pools in southeast Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island, where there is an unusually high prevalence of growth anomalies. <\/p>\n

They found that the tissues of growth anomalies had<\/p>\n