U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.

dot gov icon Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

https icon Secure websites use HTTPS

A small lock or https:// means you’ve safely connected to a .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

White Band Disease

SCTLD

White Band Disease (WBD) is a common tissue loss disease that affects the two Caribbean coral species: Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata. Since WBD was first described in the early 1970s, it has spread throughout the wider Caribbean and caused wide-scale regional loss of these species, even contributing to their near extinction in some areas. The loss of these coral species, whose dense branches provide an important habitat for many reef invertebrates and fish, has caused substantial restructuring of reef ecosystems affected by WBD. Photo credit: Brian Reckenbiel/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission