The Coral Disease Page

This site is designed to promote the exchange of information about diseases of hard or stony corals (scleractinians) and other reef organisms. These diseases have in common the ability to destroy the plants and animals that build the structural framework known as a coral reef. The remainder of this site consists of an introduction to diseases of coral reef ecosystems and a series of pages that discuss various diseases of hard corals, sea fans, and coralline algae that have been recognized on reefs thus far. You can go to information on a specific disease, or use a key that allows you to identify a potential disease based on some characteristic visual signs of each disease (abnormalities in appearance, behavior, or morphology). We have also included a list of additional reading, a list of links to related sites, and some ideas for what you can do to help.

The information has been collected and prepared in this format by Harry B. McCarty and Esther C. Peters from our work and that of many colleagues around the world, to whom we are indebted for their permission to reproduce many of the images. We are responsible for the content and any errors that may occur. We will be happy to collaborate on postings of other diseases and to add links to other web sites containing related information. Students and others who wish to cite the work here may do so by using the title "The Coral Disease Page," our names as shown above, the complete URL for this page, and the date of the most recent update shown at the bottom of this page.

Fair Warning:   Because detailed images are necessary to illustrate clearly the characteristics of these diseases, some of the graphics on the subsequent pages may take some time to load. We have tried hard to balance the need for detail and the size of the files. We hope that you will agree that it is worth the wait.

Please send us your thoughts: mccarty_and_peters@compuserve.com

The Offline Version

We have updated the stand-alone version of this page that can be run without web access, for use as a field research tool. You will need a computer (presumably a portable) with a web browser. However, all of the links to other web sites have been disabled or eliminated in the offline version. The Offline Version of the Coral Disease Page© can be downloaded by clicking here.

If you find this offline version useful, please stop back here and let us know. There is no registration fee, but if we have your e-mail address, we will keep you posted on any future updates, as they become available.

©All images displayed on this site are property of the photographers listed in the individual credits and are subject to all copyrights. None of these images may be reproduced for any purpose without prior permission. In addition, the names "The Coral Disease Page" and "The Offline Version of the Coral Disease Page" are copyrighted by H.B. McCarty and E.C. Peters, 1998. All rights reserved.

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This page was last updated on 04/01/2000.