Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 This may be an advanced question that no one can answer, but I wanted to start a conversation on it. For those of you who have lost an SPS colony (and if you own SPS, you've probably lost some along the way) have you ever noticed that sometimes a dead SPS will be white as bone, and other times the skeleton is green? I'm very curious about this, what causes the green pigment? What is the cause of death or did it contribute to death? Is is an algae? Was it always present and just took advantage when the SPS flesh died? I have a few corals right now that had been weakened in health by some mysterious event in my tank (I'm leaning towards bad RO/DI water as the cause) and I also lost some SPS corals in this event. Some left a green skeleton behind while most others have survived, but the shaded base of a couple of corals is green now, the same shade of green that the dead skeletons are. I'm keeping a close on these corals to see if they fully rebound in health and the green goes away, or if they continue to decline and eventually die leaving behind a green skeleton. So, has anyone ever noticed this? Does anyone have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I have seen it both ways. The White is typically fresh RTN/Bleach Usually the Green or algae growth is the official cue that the coral is dead. I would think it's algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 So what about when the coral is still alive and you can see it through the flesh that's in the shadows? I have two corals where the base isn't dead, but it's green. It's tough to take pictures because it's in the shade, but I'll try when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 This should be under general discussion as it applies to all stoney corals. The pigmentation is caused by algae living in the coral's skeleton (endolithic), most likely in the genus Ostreobium. They are part of the corals holobiont and transfer the sugers they produce to their host coral. They have been shown to help corals to compensate for or recover from lost zooxanthellae increasing in numbers when the shading zooxanthellae are reduced or lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 Thanks Tim! Do you have a reference for this info? I would love to read further into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted November 14, 2016 Share Posted November 14, 2016 Here's a few links. You can also do a search with the term "endolithic algae within corals": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12065035 http://jeb.biologists.org/content/208/1/75 https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/3107/1/v51n2-167-173.pdf This one I haven't bought the paper but the fluctuations in pH mentioned in the abstract raises some interesting questions. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/002209819290055F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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