Alana L. Boyles and Erinn M. Mulle2018-03-062018-03-062016Boyles , Alana L., and Erinn M. Mulle. “Identifying Genotypes of Acropora Cervicornis That Are Resilient to White Band Disease.” Acta Spartae, 2016. https://doi.org/10.48497/2FBG-0C37.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11868/318Recommended Citation: Boyles , Alana L., and Erinn M. Mulle. “Identifying Genotypes of Acropora Cervicornis That Are Resilient to White Band Disease.” Acta Spartae, 2016. https://doi.org/10.48497/2FBG-0C37.White band disease in the Caribbean, which targets frameworkbuilding stony corals like Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral), has become commonplace on reefs in the Florida Keys. This increase in white band disease has resulted in significant loss of Acropora species. To combat this rapid decline, A. cervicornis is grown in nurseries in situ and transplanted onto affected reefs. In order for transplanting efforts to be the most successful, the transplanted corals should be resilient to disease outbreaks. To propagate resilient corals in nurseries, scientists should first determine whether varying genotypes differ in disease susceptibility. An experimental laboratory manipulation was conducted to test whether nine genotypes from an in situ nursery on Summerland Key varied in disease susceptibility. The corals were arranged in three distances from a diseased individual to test for genotypic resilience to white band disease. Though the evidence suggests there is variation among genotypic susceptibility, the data was not significant. However, the B/O genotype was able to withstand contracting white band disease in all but one individual, suggesting this genotype may be more resilient than others. There was also no difference in susceptibility among distances from the diseased coral, although there was a trend of higher rates of disease infection at the closest distance. These results suggest that there may indeed be differences in susceptibility among genotypes of A. cervicornis, although further study with higher replication is needed.en-USGenotypesAcropora cervicornisWhite Band DiseaseResearch Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCESResearch Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES::BiologyDepartment of BiologyCoral Reef EcologyMote Marine LaboratoryArticlehttps://doi.org/10.48497/2fbg-0c37