Relative Pigment Composition and Remote Sensing Reflectance of Caribbean Shallow-Water Corals.

Reef corals typically contain a number of pigments, mostly due to their symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic dinoflagellates. These pigments usually vary in presence and concentration and influence the spectral characteristics of corals. We studied the variations in pigment composition among seven Caribbean shallow-water Scleractinian corals by means of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis to further resolve the discrimination of corals.

Spatial variability of disease incidence and mortality in the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina in Puerto Rico (Alcyonacea: Goorgoniidae).

Populations of the common sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) were decimated by an aspergillosis outbreak throughout the Caribbean two decades ago. Since then, aspergillosis has been considered as the principal cause of mortality in sea fans. However, prevalence and presumably incidence of this disease have been declining in the Caribbean since the mid 1990s.

Phylogeography of the cosmopolitan fungus Aspergillus flavus: is everything everywhere?

Aspergillus flavus is one of the most common fungal eukaryotes on the planet. It is notorious for production of aflatoxins, for causing aspergillosis in humans and animals, and as an opportunistic pathogen of animals and plants. Its role in marine habitats is unclear.

Marine isolates of Aspergillus flavus: denizens of the deep or lost at sea?

Most fungal species from marine environments also live on land. It is not clear whether these fungi reach the sea from terrestrial sources as spores or other propagules, or if there are separate ecotypes that live and reproduce in the sea. The emergence of marine diseases has created an urgency to understand the distribution of these fungi.