Coral Reefs最新文献

{"title":"Coral rubble facilitates feeding opportunities for invertivorous reef fishes on tropical coral reefs.","authors":"Lisa S Goberdhan, Gareth J Williams, Shaun K Wilson, Rodney Melanie, Nicholas A J Graham","doi":"10.1007/s00338-026-02909-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-026-02909-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Invertivorous reef fishes play a crucial role in coral reef ecosystems, transferring energy from benthic invertebrates to higher trophic levels. They rely on a diverse array of benthic habitats to forage for invertebrate prey. However, climate change and local stressors are reshaping reef habitats, with coral rubble becoming increasingly dominant. Despite low structural complexity, coral rubble supports abundant invertebrates, presenting both opportunities and challenges for invertivorous fish. However, the foraging ecology of fish in rubble habitats remains understudied, limiting our ability to predict their responses to ongoing reef degradation. By combining 28 yrs of reef fish and benthic community monitoring data with targeted rubble disturbance and fish foraging experiments on reefs in the inner Seychelles Islands, we test whether invertivorous reef fish community structure on coral rubble habitats is influenced by reefs characterised by distinct benthic regimes (rubble-dominated, hard substrate-dominated or macroalgal dominated) and by opportunistic feeding mechanisms. We show that invertivorous reef fish communities are highly distinct among benthic regimes at the reef scale, and benthic regime influences the invertivorous reef fish community associated with static, unconsolidated rubble habitats. However, when unconsolidated rubble habitats are physically disturbed, differences among benthic regimes diminish, and a consistent subset of invertivorous fishes rapidly exploit rubble habitats across regimes. These findings are important in shaping our understanding of how reef fish communities may interact with future reef environments, and the species that may have a competitive advantage on rubble-dominated reefs, influencing trophic interactions and resource use.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-026-02909-9.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 5","pages":"2325-2340"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13649883/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acute heat-stress testing in coral bleaching research: a review of research using the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS).","authors":"Ilan E Bubb, Kay Watty, Lyza Johnston, Verena Schoepf","doi":"10.1007/s00338-026-02862-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-026-02862-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As climate change intensifies, identifying heat-resistant corals is essential for advancing coral-bleaching research and informing reef conservation and restoration. The Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS) is designed to meet this need by conducting acute heat-stress assays within a standardized methodological framework. Given its affordability and short duration, CBASS use has increased since 2020, warranting a first review of its application. Here, we assess (1) the scope of CBASS research including geographic and species representation, (2) variation in experimental design, (3) the range of measured response variables, and (4) how CBASS-derived heat responses compare with those from longer-duration experiments and in situ surveys. We then synthesize these findings to identify advantages and limitations and suggest improvements. We show that CBASS studies exhibit taxonomic and depth biases similar to other coral-bleaching experiments. Most studies include adequate biological replication but insufficient tank replication. Temperature treatments were highly standardized, whereas rationales for selecting light levels were lacking. Frequent tissue sloughing and mortality in the highest temperature treatment underscore the need to re-evaluate the use of extreme temperatures. Chlorophyll fluorescence and associated dose-response metrics such as ED50 were the most commonly measured response variables, but standardization and reporting warrant improvement. Notably, in-depth review of the few studies comparing acute and longer-duration stress assays indicates that it remains unresolved whether CBASS-derived coral responses reliably predict coral performance under real-world heatwave scenarios. Consequently, we caution relying solely on acute stress assays to inform reef conservation and genotype selection for restoration planning until further validation is achieved.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-026-02862-7.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 4","pages":"2059-2081"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13490275/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148789287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deeper Caribbean reef fish communities show greater taxonomic and functional change in dominance structure over a nine-year period.","authors":"James S Boon, Sally A Keith, Dan A Exton, Erika Gress, Dominic A Andradi-Brown, Richard Field","doi":"10.1007/s00338-025-02709-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-025-02709-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fish communities at greater depths on a reef are thought to be less affected by disturbances that more strongly impact shallower areas. As a result, these deeper communities might be expected to show less change in their diversity and composition over time compared to those in shallow water. To test this hypothesis, we analysed changes in reef fish composition at 5-15 m and 25-40 m on reefs around Utila, Honduras, across two time periods: 2014-2015 and 2022-2023. We estimated taxonomic and functional α- and β- diversity using coverage-based standardisation and Hill-Chao numbers at orders q = 0 (species richness) and q = 2 (inverse Simpson index). Results showed that the α-diversity of fish communities was more consistent at 25-40 m than at shallower depths between the two time periods. However, β-diversity of dominant species and traits (q = 2) increased at greater depths, indicating that deeper fish communities became more distinct from one another in both structure and function, as well as more different from shallower communities at the same sites. Changes in diversity also varied between sites, highlighting the role of sitespecific conditions in shaping and maintaining fish communities across depths. Overall, the findings are not consistent with the expectation that greater depth reduces temporal community variability, and they raise questions about whether depth alone can serve as a refuge for reef fish.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-025-02709-7.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 1","pages":"381-394"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12916911/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147270046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coral larvae have unique transcriptomic responses to pathogenic and probiotic bacteria.","authors":"Erin M Borbee, Isabella V Changsut, Kira Bernabe, Alicia Schickle, David Nelson, Koty H Sharp, Lauren E Fuess","doi":"10.1007/s00338-026-02830-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-026-02830-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The growing prevalence of coral disease and other stressors threatens coral reefs, and evidence suggests these stressors not only affect adult corals but may also have impacts on early life stages. Yet, our understanding of coral larval physiology, including immunological function, is significantly limited. Here, we leverage the temperate coral experimental system <i>Astrangia poculata</i> to investigate the transcript-level response of <i>A. poculata</i> to exposure to pathogenic and probiotic bacteria. The bacteria tested in the experiment were the known coral pathogen (<i>Vibrio coralliilyticus</i> RE22) and a probiont (<i>Phaeobacter inhibens</i> S4) previously demonstrated to inhibit the pathogen's growth. In this study, we aim to (1) characterize the general immune response of <i>A. poculata</i> larvae to bacterial stimuli, (2) identify defense mechanisms that may aid in host resistance to pathogens, and (3) characterize the impacts of probiont exposure on <i>A. poculata</i> larval gene expression. Our data identify both shared and divergent larval immune responses to probiotic and pathogenic bacteria. Immunological peptidases were enriched in response to bacteria-expression of endopeptidases increased in response to probiont and pathogen, and metallopeptidase activity was enriched in response to the pathogen. Clustering analyses further revealed a diverse array of immune components in response to the pathogen, while its response to the probiont was associated with a broad range of developmental and metabolic terms. Collectively, the data from this study identify immune components that may play a role in coral response to bacteria during their early life stages, with broad relevance to current restoration and conservation approaches.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-026-02830-1.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 3","pages":"1119-1134"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13282300/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148293835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Subtropical specialists dominate a coral range expansion front.","authors":"Fiona Chong, Giun Yee Soong, Agus Alim Hakim, Camille Burke, Stéphane De Palmas, Fabian Gösser, Wanchien Victoria Hsiao, Hiroki Kise, Miyuki Nishijima, Akira Iguchi, Brigitte Sommer, Domino Joyce, Maria Beger, James Davis Reimer","doi":"10.1007/s00338-024-02601-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-024-02601-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Potential range expansion of scleractinian corals in high-latitude reefs is critically dependent on the coral host-symbiont relationship that determines coral growth and survival. Although increases in coral cover have been observed at higher latitudes, the identities of habitat-building reef corals and their symbionts are underreported. Here, we examine how scleractinian host and symbiont Symbiodiniaceae diversity changes along a tropical-temperate environmental gradient. We use <i>Pocillopora</i> spp. and associated symbiont communities as a model to understand whether they are expanding their range poleward and the role of symbionts in this process. Along the Kuroshio Current, which carries warm equatorial waters northward along the Pacific coast of Japan, we collected coral tissues from 23 (sub)tropical-to-temperate reefs, from southern Iriomote in the Ryukyu Islands (24°N) to northernmost Kushimoto on mainland Japan (33°N). We examined host identities through direct sequencing of the mitochondrial open reading frame (mtORF) and symbiont identities with next-generation sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of the ribosomal DNA. Our results show a dramatic reduction of <i>Pocillopora</i> haplotypes and a marked change in dominant symbiont types northward (poleward) from Cape Sata (30°N), Kagoshima. 'Tropical' <i>Pocillopora</i> haplotypes were absent from mainland Japan sites. We also demonstrate high host specificity between the subtropical <i>Pocillopora</i> haplotype and <i>Cladocopium</i> symbiont types. Our findings question how common 'coral tropicalisation' is, and the location of the coral range expansion front. The specificity of hosts and symbionts in high-latitude corals suggests that high-latitude reefs are unlikely to support the persistence of tropical zooxanthellate corals.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-024-02601-w.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 1","pages":"5-19"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12916933/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147270013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using reflectance to measure chlorophyll <i>a</i> in corals: calibration and implications of skeletal optical properties.","authors":"Kay Watty, Verena Schoepf, Kelly W Johnson, Sophie Littke, Rene M van der Zande","doi":"10.1007/s00338-026-02831-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-026-02831-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate change-driven coral bleaching and associated chlorophyll (Chl) loss increasingly threaten coral reefs, highlighting the need for non-invasive, cost-effective tools to assess corals' physiological condition. Researchers have explored the reflectance-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a proxy for Chl <i>a</i>. However, almost no calibration curves exist to date; thus it remains unknown if the relationship between Chl <i>a</i> and NDVI differs among coral species, and whether it is influenced by skeletal optical properties. Here, we correlated Chl <i>a</i> content to NDVI in three coral species with different skeletal morphologies and reflectance modes across a range of health states (i.e., bleaching states). We found a strong positive relationship between Chl <i>a</i> and NDVI in all species, validating NDVI as a proxy for Chl <i>a</i> in corals. However, this relationship is non-linear, showing deviations at the highest and lowest ends of the pigmentation spectrum. We propose that in healthy states, this non-linearity is due to pigment self-shading, whereas in bleaching states, it is caused by backscattering of light by the increasingly exposed coral skeleton, because pigment loss enhances absorption by the remaining Chl <i>a</i> pigments and lowers, rather than increases, reflectance. To avoid Chl <i>a</i> under- or overestimation, we recommend to log-transform Chl <i>a</i> and create species-specific calibration curves. Overall, the non-invasive, repeatable, and scalable nature of reflectance measurements and NDVI make them valuable tools for assessing coral health both ex- and in situ. They provide a comprehensive view of the holobiont's physiological condition and hold potential for broader applications in reef-scale monitoring, remote sensing, coral restoration, and conservation.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-026-02831-0.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 3","pages":"1495-1503"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13282203/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148293844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperate and filamentous bacteriophages as reservoirs of bacterial virulence in stony coral tissue loss disease.","authors":"Bailey A Wallace, Lydia Baker, Erin Papke, Blake Ushijima, Stephanie M Rosales, Cynthia B Silveira","doi":"10.1007/s00338-026-02902-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-026-02902-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lysogenic conversion, in which bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) integrate into bacterial genomes and confer new phenotypic traits on their hosts, is a well-established mechanism for the emergence of pathogens. While this process underpins many bacterial diseases in humans and other animals, its role in coral disease remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the potential role of lysogenic conversion in stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), which has caused unprecedented mortality of Caribbean corals since 2014 and for which the etiological agent remains unknown. Across 27 original coral samples and 174 publicly available metagenomes from the Florida Reef Tract spanning seven coral species, we detected a greater number of unique viral genomes harboring genomic features associated with lysogeny in diseased corals or visually healthy portions of diseased corals (DD and HD, respectively) compared to visually healthy (VH) corals. SCTLD-associated bacteriophages were primarily predicted to infect bacterial taxa previously implicated in the disease, such as <i>Vibrionales</i>, <i>Rhodobacterales</i>, and <i>Flavobacteriia</i>, and carried abundant and widespread virulence factors with the potential to enhance bacterial colonization, competition, or direct host damage, including homologs of Tse2, Zot, RTX, pneumolysin, and cytolytic delta-endotoxin. Although causal relationships remain unresolved, our findings indicate that phages have the genomic capacity to laterally transfer bacterial virulence genes in SCTLD-affected corals. The acquisition of genes via lysogenic conversion could contribute to bacterial virulence while maintaining community taxonomic profiles, helping to explain previous community profiling observations and providing a mechanistic framework for disease pathogenesis.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-026-02902-2.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"45 5","pages":"2211-2230"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13649929/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149166448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Coral reef attributes associated with microplastic exposure.","authors":"Cheryl Hankins, Danielle Lasseigne, Sarah M Davis, Kimberly Edwards, Jenny S Paul","doi":"10.1007/s00338-024-02596-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-024-02596-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Coral reef declines have been documented since the 1980's from a variety of global and local stressors. Management resource tools are needed to preserve these fragile ecosystems from stressors, both known and unknown. Laboratory studies have shown microplastics (MP) to have negative effects on coral physiology, but their effects in a natural environment are not well understood. Thus, our primary objectives were to explore associations between MPs and coral reef attributes. We measured MP concentrations from sub-surface water and coral tissue samples from two Caribbean/Atlantic scleractinian coral species, <i>Montastraea cavernosa</i> and <i>Orbicella faveolata</i>, from St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida's Coral Reef in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Polymer identification yielded mostly cotton or polyester fibers for both water and coral tissue samples. This study is the first to document MPs in coral tissues from either the U.S. Virgin Islands or Florida's Coral Reef and is the first to explore how MPs relate to coral reef attributes. Significant, positive relationships were seen between MPs in coral tissue and coral density, rugosity, and percent coral cover, indicating MPs may not have immediate adverse effects on coral reef health.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"44 1","pages":"193-207"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12180944/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144368645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fate-tracking early coral recruits following bleaching in a remote reef ecosystem.","authors":"John E Stratford, Andrew O M Mogg, Heather J Koldewey, Liam Lachs, Renata Ferrari, James Guest, Daniel T I Bayley","doi":"10.1007/s00338-025-02732-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-025-02732-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As coral reefs face increasingly frequent and severe disturbances, their condition relies more heavily on recovery dynamics. Understanding reef recovery is essential for assessing the long-term ecological integrity and functioning of these ecosystems. In this study, we used structure-from-motion photogrammetry to map reefs at Peros Banhos atoll (Chagos Archipelago) in the three years following the 2015-2016 mass coral bleaching event. This approach enabled us to detect and track individual post-bleaching coral recruits underpinning natural recovery (<i>n</i> = 1,074 across 72 m²), and investigate their early survival and growth. In 2017, one year after the bleaching, new recruit density was highest, largely due to comparatively high recruitment in sheltered sites. However, 2018 recruits had higher first-year survival and growth than the 2017 cohort, suggesting a negative legacy effect of high temperatures on reef recovery. Branching coral taxa showed both the highest first-year survival and growth. Interestingly, fine-scale substrate complexity at the onset of recovery was negatively associated with the density of recruits 1-2 years later. Despite favourable conditions that allowed the majority of recruits to survive and grow rapidly, all recruits combined accounted for only 2.39% coral cover three years after the bleaching event. Our results document vital rates during early natural recovery at a remote protected atoll and shed light on the dynamics of coral recruits immediately following mass bleaching. Further, we demonstrate the insight that photogrammetric approaches can provide to reef demographic studies.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-025-02732-8.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"44 5","pages":"1651-1667"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12500822/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145250129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effects of seawater temperature-induced coral bleaching on the aragonite structure and material properties of massive <i>Porites lutea</i> coral skeletons.","authors":"Alice Sinclair, Susan Fitzer, Samantha Greeves, Kirsty Penkman, Chalermrat Sangmanee, Nicola Allison","doi":"10.1007/s00338-025-02735-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00338-025-02735-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The coral skeletons that contribute to tropical reef structures are biominerals, composed of inorganic aragonite and organic biomolecules. The biomolecules influence the aragonite structure and material properties of the skeleton. We collected massive <i>Porites lutea</i> skeletons from Phuket, Thailand, in 1991, approximately one month into a temperature-induced bleaching event. Some specimens had expelled their Symbiodiniaceae in response to the increased water temperatures (bleached), while other corals appeared unaffected (unbleached). We investigate the effect of Symbiodiniaceae loss on the amino acid composition, aragonite structure, and Vickers hardness of the coral skeletons. We observe no significant difference in the amino acid content or composition of the outermost 1 mm of skeleton (representing 0.5 to 2 months growth) between bleached and unbleached specimens. The full width half maximum of the Raman spectrum ʋ₁ band, an indicator of disorder around the CO₃ group in the aragonite lattice, varies significantly between some corals in the outermost 200 µm of skeleton, but these differences are not attributable to the bleaching status of the coral colonies. Similarly, Vickers hardness varies significantly between some colonies, but this is not related to coral bleaching. This is a positive finding, suggesting that bleaching, from which corals recover, does not adversely affect the coral skeletal structure.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00338-025-02735-5.</p>","PeriodicalId":10821,"journal":{"name":"Coral Reefs","volume":"44 5","pages":"1617-1629"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12542618/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145353986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}