Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gilchrist, Sandra

Keywords

Aspergillosis, Cyphoma, Gibbosum, Coral Disease, Gorgonian

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology

Abstract

The fungal disease Aspergillosis has been an ongoing epizootic in the Caribbean since its identification in 1995. Further investigation into the environmental or biological vectors of Aspergillosis is of great interest, as this disease has had a considerable impact on coral reefs in the Caribbean. The gastropod Cyphoma gibbosum is able to pass viable spores of Aspergillus sydowii (Ascomycota: Eurotiomycetes: Eurotiales: Trichocomaceae), the fungus thought to cause the disease, and previous field studies noted an increased presence of C. gibbosum during Aspergillosis outbreaks. These observations suggest that C. gibbosum may be a biological vector of Aspergillosis. This study looked at the distribution of C. gibbosum in relation to the presence of Aspergillosis on its gorgonian prey along a portion of shallow (<3m) fringing reef off of Los Cayos Cochinos in the Honduran Bay Islands. The disease prevalence of Aspergillosis along the reef was also investigated. Gastropods were not found to feed preferentially on infected, or uninfected fans, but there is circumstantial evidence suggesting a preference for infected fans that indicates the need for further investigation. Gastropods did appear to consume less of infected sea fans, and larger sea fans were observed to be more likely to show signs of an Aspergillosis infection than smaller fans.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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