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The Hungry Snail, the Fragile Coral, and the Friendly Microbe
- Source :
- Frontiers for Young Minds, Frontiers for Young Minds, Frontiers Media, 2021, 9, pp.573856. ⟨10.3389/frym.2021.573856⟩, Frontiers for Young Minds, 2021, 9, pp.573856. ⟨10.3389/frym.2021.573856⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media SA, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Off the coast of Vietnam, two recent events seem to have contributed to the death of coral reefs: the rapid invasion of a small marine snail called Drupella, and the emergence of a disease that spreads over corals. We decided to investigate whether there is a link between the corals, the snails, and the disease. We analyzed the mucus covering the surface of corals, both in healthy corals and those infested by Drupella snails. Mucus produced by corals is usually full of helpful microbes, protecting the corals from harmful microbes that can make them ill or kill them. Our analyses showed that, when Drupella eats corals, the snail also removes one of the corals’ primary defenses by eliminating most of the tiny protectors in their mucus. This allows harmful microbes to cause additional damage to the corals.
- Subjects :
- 0303 health sciences
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
030306 microbiology
Ecology
Coral
fungi
technology, industry, and agriculture
General Medicine
Coral reef
Snail
biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition
biology.organism_classification
Mucus
03 medical and health sciences
biology.animal
population characteristics
Drupella
14. Life underwater
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography
geographic locations
[SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Symbiosis
030304 developmental biology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 22966846
- Volume :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers for Young Minds
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6af26b8b251a4ad6d055818a051baeb4