Authors

Mylene M. Panuncial-Sadagnot

Author

Wilfredo H. Uy

Corresponding author

Institute of Fisheries Research and Development, Mindanao State University at Naawan, Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines

*Corresponding author: *@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The steady decline of reef productivity and coral disease outbreaks emphasized the need to mitigate the effect of coral diseases within reef communities. Given that marine protected areas (MPAs) are effective reef management tools, this paper examined the hypothesis that inside MPAs coral diseases are less prevalent than outside MPAs. Five disease categories were documented, three of these – white disease (0.7% to 3.4%), growth anomalies (12.2% to 22.7%) and coral bleaching (3.1% to 6.2%) were observed site wide, targeting the genus Porites. Pooled disease and growth anomalies (GAN) prevalence was significantly less inside Capayas Island Marine Sanctuary (CIMS) than outside. Similars, white disease (WD) was significantly less prevalent inside Tubajon fish sanctuary (TFS) than outside. Prevalence of disease on all surveyed reefs is high but not as high as the very high coral around central Visayas where most disease data of the country are concentrated. Massive and branching forms of corals display the highest likelihood to develop coral disease. The preference of Porites both in its massive and branching form present an ever posing threat - as it is considered one of the country’s major reef building coral genera.